The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-05-19
THE CARNIVAL BECOMING ANGLO SAXON.

a correspondent OF the New York Evening
Post, writing from Rome, thus speaks Of the Car.
nivaI:
We reached Rome in the height of the Carni
val. and if we were disappointed in In. n unber
and extent OF the architectural remains of the an
cicnt city, this curious relic of the ancient satur.
malta fell equally short of my expectation For
eigness. and especially the English and Amer
cans, have ruined this festival. The Carnival
proper is nn institution which could never exist
III perfection except in Il country where the pop
nation is divided horizontally into classes belong.
ing TO social conditions widely separated. It.
lourished in perfection at a time when nearly
half Of all the inhabitants of Rome were slaves.
and it was their special holiday. They could
say on these occasions what they pleased, and do
pretty much what they pleased, to their masters,
without fear ofbeug called to account for their
conduct. But the nature and extent Of the lber-
ties taken on such occasions may be gathered
pretty definitely from one ,ofthe Satires Of IIo
race in which he reports suturnaIan colouuy
between himse II and his slave Davus 1t is not
possible, however. TO conceive Of such an instr.
tuition being continued If the temporary gift of
freedom was abused in u way to be offensive to
the more privileged classes it s equally iinpro.
bable that the slave should take any offensive
liberties with a master who he knew the next
day would bc.a master not only Of his liberty but
Of his life.
The distinctions in society among the Italians
have becn md still uro sufficient to perpetr.re
the original spirit and purpose Of this institution
under the na,ne Of the Carnival, and they usu
ally enjoy il, buIieve, more than any other hoIi.
day. But Of late, and this year in particular.
Rome has been thronged with strangers from
England and America, and their cquipages in
the carnival occupied so large n proportion of the
Corso, that as near as can learn, the festival has
undergone some changes which has rendered it
not only less interesting in ITSELF but, what Is more
to be depored less characteristic of the institu.
ions ard civilization in which il had lis oripi,.
Eormertg gsconfectioncry and flowers used to be
throwhfrom one carriage to another, but for the
most part in complimentary spirit and deri wing
piquaney from the fact that the parties were un.
known to each other, and in this way were hold.
ing un allowable intercourse which on any other
day would be regarded as too familiar.
But the Anglo.Saxoned race do not seem to
have the faculty Of enjoying this kind of sport
Iegitimately- They take advantage ofthe priv
ileged chnracter eff day to annoy those they
meet and make them ridiculous. They throw
confetti with violence If they see black hat
in the street, or anything that will be discolored
by their artillery, they viii take the utmost pains
to soil IT as much as possible. have even seen
them 60 SO far asto bend forward aud deliberate
ly throw whole handful Of confetti violently in
to the face Of ladies casually crossing the street,
and taking no part whatever in the sports Of the
OCCASION.