Italy as it is, or a Narrative of an English || Family's Residence for three Years in that Country, by the Author of Four Years in France," which we briefly noticed in our fourth volume (page 83) is a Roman Catholic, of most capacious powers of belief. By him, all the vaunted popish miracles of modern times are received as indisputable facts. Doubtlessly, however, Mr. Best is a very amiable man; and, upon all points in which his religion is not specially concerned, he is well entitled to a fair degree of attention. As specimens of his style and manner, we shall make two or three excerpts from his description of a villa which he engaged in a large garden in the Faubourg of Leghorn : It was a large house; the chambers at least were well furnished, and here, as at Florence, every person of my family had a separate room; and here, also, as at Florence, I paid a sequin a day for my lodging: the price would not have been extravagant had I taken it for two months only, the high bathing season of Leghorn, but I took it for four months, not wishing to return to any town till the end of the summer; after all, the price was not much more than the summer price at Bath, and less than the winter price at Cheltenham. The garden was of two acres, over which we might range at will; but as it would have been painful to walk over cabbage stalks, and impossible to force a way through artichokes and Indian corn, we confined ourselves to the walk from the great gate to the house, and the space left for carriages to turn. Paradoxical as it may seem, a shady walk is not wanted in a hot climate in summer; one cannot stir out during the middle of the day, and when the sun is down, air is I wanted, to which whatever casts a shade is a hindrance. The ladies in England, indeed, are so fond of their parasols, that when you meet them on the shady side of the street, or after sunset, it requires great care to avoid being blinded by the tagged ends of the ribs of whalebone by which those elegant machines are distended. But walking in the evening in the Villa Reale at Naples, you will naturally cry out, "Oh, for the sea breeze!" in vain-the trees forbid; but they will make you a convert to my paradox. which air and sun were excluded, leading to the lesser gate of the garden; over this gate was a gazebo, forsooth; from this height were seen the boys and girls playing in the lane, and, in another direction, the distant Apennines with Monte Nero, better viewed from our windows. The monotonous chant of the gardener's girls could not tire them, for its theme was love. In vain I entreated them, instead of Hymen, to worship Plutus, whose minister I engaged to be, if they would work in silence; but they could not give up the syren song. My housekeeping had not the advantage which it ought to have derived from the proximity of the garden; the cook always found some good reason for not buying fruits and vegetables where the price might be known. Complaints were neglected, commands were eluded: as much artifice was employed by my cook as would have sufficed to a roguish secretary of state, if such a personage any where exists; and, excepting some grapes and other fruit, which, in virtue of a personal treaty between the high contracting powers (the gardener and myself), passed immediately from the tree to the table, my taste was but little gratified in compensation of the sufferings of other senses, When I first settled at Avignon, believing that a well-furnished larder was a creditable part of a domestic establishment, I endeavoured that, of each day's supply of food, there should be something to spare, as an assurance that there had been enough. The negro says, "The more Massa call me, the more I won't come ;" so, the more was ordered, the less there was remaining; for all remains were a perquisite of office : it therefore became necessary to endeavour that ways and means and the supply should correspond exactly. At Florence, I found that very many, even of the Italian families, made an agreement with their own cooks to serve them dinner at a certain price every day; and in this they were imitated by some English, who had been long established there. For the last six months a traiteur supplied my table, and the splendid batterie de cuisine of polished copper, of which maestro di casa was justly proud, was left to glitter idly on the walls, like the armour of a tired warrior. 4 on of guest on But in a villa it was necessary to have a kitchen, as the town, and its means and appliances for dining, were half a mile off. We changed our cook three times in four months at Leghorn. The first took snuff; the second required that a little boy, only fourteen years old, should be invited daily to eat her dinner for her, as she had no appetite herself; the third bought the refuse of the market, in every sort of viand; and this, as the price accorded not with the quality, I considered as a symptom of dishonesty: he delighted, moreover, in that excitement of ideas for which wine is so much commended by the poets. On these two points I endeavoured to descant in a way that, as I thought, might edify him, as a persuasive to an honest and sober life. I reminded him that we must all appear before the great judgment seat; he answered, instead of trembling and putting a more convenient sea off the conversation to of complaint. With these men I had reason to be well satisfied during my stay, and they resigned with regret in favour of a courier who was to attend me to France. J. A. B. Beaumont, Esq., son of Mr. Barber Beaumont, a gentleman whose name has been long well known as that of an extensive projector and speculator, of « Travels in Buenos Ayres and the Adhas given to the public an octavo volume jacent Provinces of the Rio de la Plata." This volume, like many others relating to South America, within these few years, has had its origin in a speculation. "The writer of these pages," observes Mr. B., " and some of his friends, have More which may be useful-about been considerable sufferers from partial servants : At Rome, where we were to remain but six months, I took a Frenchman, one of the temporary service mentioned above; all these men talk French. At Naples, the privilege of surcharging on the provisions of the house was so completely a vested right, that I lost the service of two valuable domestics by presuming to question it. One of these men was a courier, who had five times made the journey to Paris and back again; but having, at this time, failed of an engagement in his usual vocation, condescended to become an ordinary domestic. He insisted on buying for the dépense, or secondary kitchen, in which the dessert and coffee are prepared; and, among other objects, bought oranges at a grano apiece. Now I had received confidential information that three oranges were sold for a grano. This difference of price was an affair of no little moment, as we, seven of us in family, eat three or four oranges, each of us, every day. By way of experiment, on my return from a walk in the Villa Reale, I stopped at a stall on the Chiaja, and ordered five dozen of oranges for thirty grani. misrepresentations; they have themselves largely contributed to draw the attention of the British public to the advantages of Buenos Ayres for agricultural emigrants; but he has now seen the country, and the acts of its government, with his own eyes-he has bought his experience at a high price, and he thinks it a duty which he owes to his countrymen and the public to offer them the benefit of that experience. The natural capabilities of the country are of the first order, and these must endure; but the obstructions to their present development, owing to moral and political causes, are such as to demand serious attention." With his voyage, and a residence of nearly twelve months in the country-with his interview with Don Bernardino Rivadavia, the President, as he is pompously denominated, of the Argentine Republic, respecting the subject of his speculation-he seems to have been, in transatlantic phraseology, " pretty tolerably much disgusted. The worthy President handed him over to one of the Secretaries of State; but, neither from him, from the President, nor from any other member of the Government, could he obtain one iota of assistance. Mr. Barber Beaumont-then Mr. Barber-was, if we forget not, some years since, a miniature My courier gave me still further reason to repent of my temerity, by desiring me the next morning to provide another domestic. The cook perceiving by the manner in which his account was discussed, that his prescriptive rights would be questioned, took an early opportunity of submitting to me that he could not carry on his service to the satisfaction of my "Excel-painter; and, probably by inheritance, lency," without an aide de cuisine, or undercook. Thus deserted, I took two very honest men, as yet uncorrupted by foreign influence, to whom I gave a livery coat and hat, three carlini a day, and the scanty remains of a dinner furnished by the traiteur, in the ordering of which, it was understood and agreed upon, that a deficient surplus should be to them no just ground his son appears to possess some skill in the art of sketching a portrait. We subjoin a part of the account which he gives of the audience which he was honoured with by the great man :— Word was at last brought that his Excellency was at liberty: my interrogator immediately out to me, in relation to which my companion, an inhabitant of the town, told me the following history:-Some few years ago, an opulent Por Arroyo de la China, in order to effect extensive purchases of cattle. He brought with him, for the purpose, a large supply of gold ounces (doubloons). The then commandante of the city, by a due exertion of that inquisitorial vigilance so necessary in a person holding his office, ascertained these facts, and, in order to shew due attention to so acceptable a visitor, invited him to his house, made much of him, and walked with him about the town and its suburbs. The commandante, who previously had never been guilty of displaying any wealth, on a sudden surprised his neighbours by an unwonted exhibition of gold ounces. Such a sudden rise of fortune excited the wonder of the townsmen, for in that country, very unlike our own, riches are rare; and the means of acquiring any moderate portion of them, honestly, visible to every body: "still the wonder grew," and remained unsatisfied. Another wonder was, what had become of his dear friend the Portuguese; they were no longer seen walking together. Many of the townsmen, as well as the commandante, had had their eye upon the Portuguese and his gold ounces, and longed to draw him within their affectionate embraces; but the Portuguese gentleman had disappeared abruptly, nobody knew whither or how. In a short time, however, some one looking into the well, saw the body of the Portuguese, with his throat cut from ear to ear. Suspicion immediately fell on the commandante; circumstances' transpired which established his guilt beyond the possibility of doubt. He was sent to Bajada, the then capital of the province, near Santa Fé, where he was tried, cast, and condemned to be shot; but one of those révolutions, which have of late years been so frequent in this country, arrested the arm of justice, and set the murderer free: he not only escaped from punishment, but was enabled to return to Arroyo de la China, where he was appointed to an office of great power, and under this power it was our misfortune to fall. disappeared in great haste, and after a quarter of an hour's absence, returned and led me into the audience chamber, where I was left alone to await the entrance of the president; but expect-tuguese came over from the Banda Oriental to ing only to see Mr. Rivadavia, whom I had so frequently shook by the hand in London, and joked with at my father's table, I did not feel, as perhaps I ought to have done, the awfulness of the presence! The silvery tinkling of a little bell in the adjoining room arrested my attention, when, lo! the door opened with solemn slowness, and discovered the President of the Argentine Republic, gravely advancing, and with an air so dignified, that it was almost overpowering. The student, in the "Devil on Two Sticks," could not have been more surprised at the breaking of the phial than I was at what I saw. Every little particular relating to a great man is generally interesting to the public; it may, therefore, not be impertinent to give a short description of his excellency's person and appearance. Don Bernardino Rivadavia seems to be between forty and fifty years of age, about five feet in height, and much about that measure in circumference; his countenance is dark, but not unpleasing; it denotes acuteness, and, with his features, appears to belong to the ancient race which formerly sojourned at Jerusalem: his coat is green, buttoned à la Napoleon; his small clothes, if such they can be called, are fastened at the knee with silver buckles, and the short remainder of his person is clad in silk hose, dress shoes, and silver buckles; his whole appearance is not very unlike the caricature portraits of Napoleon: indeed, it is said, he is very fond of imitating that once great personage in such things as are within his reach, such as the cut or colour of a coat, or the inflation of an address. His excellency slowly advanced towards me, with his hands clenched behind him; || whether this, too, was done in imitation of the great well-known, or to gain something of a counterpoise to the weight and bulk which he bore before him, or to guard his hand from the unhallowed touch of familiarity, it might be equally difficult and immaterial to determine; but his excellency slowly advanced, and with a formal patronizing air, at once made known to me that Mr. Rivadavia in London, and Don Bernardino Rivadavia, President of the Argentine Republic, were not to be considered as one and the same person. We do not find much of really original matter in Mr. Beaumont's volume, yet it contains some information that may be useful, especially to those who may entertaln ideas of emigration. We offer the following as a hint : After hearing this tale, I felt grateful that I had not been murdered as well as plundered; and was more eager than ever to be afloat. On my return to the town, I found the passports completed; little time was lost in getting on board. Our rudder and sails were restored; a good stock of provisions, brandy, máte, &c. was laid in; and after a captivity of twenty days, we were enabled to escape the clutches of the gypsey rulers of these misgoverned provinces. "Mexican Illustrations, founded upon A well, about thirty feet deep, was pointed || Facts, indicative of the present Condition of of age: the few exceptions more fully prove the rule; and this premature old age is very much accelerated by the custom of wearing neither stays nor other support for their bosoms. I do, by-the-by, remember one good-humoured lady, at Valladolid, who had squeezed her bosom up to her chin, and wore her waist between her shoulder blades, as ten years back used to be the fashion at Paris. All have a great quantity of dark hair: but it is not fine, nor in natural ringlets. Indeed that of the lower orders is so coarse, long, and black, that when of an great pride, purposely turning round to display fully their straight locks hanging down their back, my imagination has irresistibly reverted to the tails of the Life Guards' horses in London. Society, Manners, Religion, and Morals, among the Spanish and Native Inhabitants of Mexico; with Observations upon the Government and Resources of the Republic of Mexico as they appeared during part of the Years 1825, 1826, and 1827; interspersed with occasional Remarks upon the Climate, Produce, and Antiquities of the Country, Mode of Working the Mines, &c., by Mark Beaufoy, late of the Coldstream Guards," || is, notwithstanding the number of works which have appeared upon the same sub-evening I have seen women walking about in ject, a volume of considerable utility and importance. Mr. Beaufoy appears to be desirous of placing every thing relating to Mexico-its geography-its climate-its animal, vegetable, and mineral productions-the besotted character of its government-the ignorance of its inhabitants, and the depravity of their manners and morals-in a correct point of view. That view is, in many respects, unfavourable. Of his book, however, we can make but little use in the way of extract; for, agreeably to the wish which we entertained, in noticing Captain Lyon's Journal, &c., we have yet to offer some passages from that very pleasing work.-The visiting etiquette in Mexico is not likely, we apprehend, to be adopted in Europe. Mr. Beaufoy says The ceremonies on taking leave, after a visit, are delightfully complicated. You advance close to the ladies and bow: they must not move from their seat; if very polite, you endeavour to gain the door without turning your back, but at all events you there pause and bow; the master of the house accompanies you out, and you bow to each other at the top of the stairs; six steps down, you turn and bow again; on the first landing-place this is repeated, and again at the foot of the staircase, when you observe your friend has taken up your old position. Be sure, likewise, if you value your reputation, not to quit the court-yard without turning to see whether your persecutor has still kept you in view. I once gave serious offence by this last omission. We proceed to make some additional extracts from Captain Lyon's "Journal of a Residence and Tour in Mexico, in the Year 1826."* At Pueblo Viego, Captain L. obtained a windowless room in one of the most respectable houses in the place; the mistress of which, he states, was better known by the name of the Gachupina (a term of reproach applied to European Spaniards) than by her proper appellation of Doña Francesca. This lady, who had the reputation of being rich and cleanly, was quite distressed at not having time to whiten my room; but two Indian girls were instantly set to work to wash the earthen floor, and make me comfortable. My landlady was all politeness, and I clearly saw that she entertained no mean opinion of her own good breeding and address. She was generally allowed to be one of the most respectable ladies of Tampico; and although a certain Don Antonio, who assisted in taking care of her shop and her fair self, was by no means her husband, she piqued herself on her irreproachable character, and the high estimation in which she was held on account of her wealth. Her age might have been about fortyfive; her person was fat; and when in her morning costume, which consisted of a shift, tied round the waist with a string, and with a cigar in her mouth, her whole figure was particularly We have, in our time, contemplated pic-attractive. This charming person and I formed tures of the fair sex more interestingmore fascinating-than those with which Mr. Beaufoy indulges his readers :— In general, the black eyes of the Mexican women have neither that vivacity nor that softness which different persons have praised in the Spanish females; and they all, but more particularly those of the lower classes, lose their pretension to beauty at sixteen or seventeen years No. 42.*—Vol. VII. an interesting picture every morning at about six o'clock, as she stood leaning over a little wicket which kept the pigs, dogs, cats, and poultry from coming out of the yard into my room. While we cosily smoked the cigars with which she favoured me, I drew in lessons of Spanish, by conversing with her, and listening to her con 2S * Vide page 76. stantly-repeated assurances that she was an "old Spaniard," and a woman of sense, although, in common with nearly all the native ladies of the place, she did not possess the accomplishments of reading and writing. In the evening, the Commandant and his wife, || with some officers in the garrison, paid me a visit at the Consul's house, where his sister amused the party by playing on the piano-forte; and a host of half-naked natives soon crowded round the door and windows, which latter, at Tampico, have no glass, and seemed highly delighted with the music; some of the children remarking, with astonishment, that the Senora "read a book" while playing. When the vistors retired, I adjourned to my own room, that I might endeavour to sleep -but it was all to no purpose. At my outer door stood a pig-sty, containing three old sows -mothers, to my misery, of a numerous progeny, which had been separated from them in order to forage in the odoriferous streets. The moanings and cries, in every tone to which the voice of sows can be modulated, were answered with interest by the young pigs; for, being too large to creep through the bars to their parents, they solaced themselves by squealing throughout the night. To add to this, the dogs, of which every house has several, barked without interruption. During the exhibition of the tight-rope dancers, the spectators derived a continual fund of gratification from the pallase, or clown, who particularly delighted the most respectable inhabitants by the recital of a coarse story.. While a half Indian was performing some clumsy evolutions on the rope, the band, in obedience to a signal, suddenly ceased, and the dancer having dropped himself into a sitting posture on the cord, pulled off his high embroidered cap, and very gravely thus bespoke us: "Caballeros y Señoras (Gentlemen and Ladies), I beg (suplico) that as I am about to throw a somerset, you will subscribe some money to be devoted to the service of celebrating the holy sacrament of the most Holy Mass." All rose: the men took off their hats with the utmost gravity; a general silence prevailed for a moment; and the vaulter, who evidently was in great dismay, attempted to throw his promised caper. Unluckily, however, he failed, tumbled on his nose, and no money was subscribed for the "solemn and most holy sacrament," for as much as the articles had not been fulfilled. To this succeeded fire-works, tumbling by two little boys, and performances on the slack-rope, in which the unsuccessful vaulter astonished me by hanging with the rope at full swing, and high above the ground, by one hand, by his heels, his toes, the back of his neck, and lastly by his teeth. He concluded with a performance which is said to have been exhibited by order of Montezuma, for the amusement of Cortez and his officers; and which I cannot better describe than in the words of the Abbé Clavigero, substituting, however, boys for "One man laid himself upon his back on the ground, and raising up his feet, took a beam upon them, or a piece of wood, which was thick, round, and about eight feet in length. He tossed it up to a certain height, and as it fell, he received and tossed it up again with his feet. Taking it afterwards between his feet, he turned it rapidly round; and what is more, he did so with two men" (boys) "sitting astride upon it, feat, however, was in the present instance acone upon each extremity of the beam." The companied by a lively tune from the band, to which the performer kept excellent time, while A party of itinerant Maromeros (or rope- he danced, with his feet elevated beneath the dancers) held their exhibition in the large walled beam, a very neat and difficult figure, throughout yard of a once-splendid mansion, to about eight the exhibition. While all these gaieties were hundred people; which was considered as a very going forward, two or three men constantly oc"full house," the receipts, at a medio (or three-cupied themselves in picking their way through pence) for each person, amounting to fifty dollars. the crowd, and bawling lustily "sweetmeats and The performance, which was exceedingly bad,|| was, nevertheless, highly applauded by the spectators, who were sitting or lying in a confused multitude on the bare ground; while some few persons of distinction had taken the precaution to provide themselves with chairs and stools. Alas for the "march of intellect" amongst the mining districts of Mexico! It will scarcely be believed that there should exist a people in a nominally-civilized country, who yet believe in Lord Monboddo's ingenious theory of tails-yet so it is; that the English, or indeed all foreigners, being considered as Jews, are supposed to be ornamented by these appendages; and many people can be found who firmly believe that our stirrups being placed more forward on our saddles than is the custom of the country, is to allow of our stooping a little so as to prevent the friction of the saddle from inconveniencing the rider's tail. Saturday being the pay-day for the native labourers, in the vicinity of Bolaños, the evening was in consequence devoted to merriment : men. cakes for sale:" and one old fellow particularly pleased me, by his energetic yet conciliating appeals to the gallantry of the gentlemen present, to purchase a kind of "Pandulce," which was squeezed into the semblance of pigs" What! Caballeros! does no one buy my pigs for the |