Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-10-23
ITALIAN LIFE.
ANCIENT GRANDEUR AND MOD
ERN THRIFTLESSNESS.
Things Interesting and Common
place in the Old Romans
Country.


struck by the idle, careless life of the native
population. Accustomed to the busy, bust
ling, body and brain working life at home,
he finds in Italy people whose chief OBJ
ject is to do nothing-a people who live
without newspapers and die without patent
medicines-a people who can be merry
without getting drunk, and happy without
either the Fourth of July or Thanksgiving
Day. went to Italy fresh from the dark
and mysterious Orient, that land of glorious
skies and degraded people, of splendid
memories and declining present where all
that was interesting is dead, and all that is
commonplace lives. From Constantinople,
with its narrow streets swarming with an
uncounted population representing every
people of the East, each in its own peculiar
and picturesque dress, had passed to
Athens, the fairest city in Europe. shall
not recall here the thrilling thoughts that
arose as | wandered amid the broken col
umns of the Acropolis, or as gazed with
wonder and admiration at the incompara-
BILE beauty Of the friezes of the Parthenon
L
where st. Paul proclaimed the mystery of
the Unknown God to the polished Athe-
mans.
had shivered at Constantinople, and en-
tered Athens in a snow-storm; but when
landed at Brindisi | found the climate mild
even in niidwinter, and everything denot-
ing an early and lovely spring. Unfortu-
nately, l did not find the people as attract
i've as the climate; but what most CRATES
upon the feelings of an American is to see
women lsboring in the fields with hoe and
sickle. In delicate consideration for women
our country, happily, stands the first in the
world. The out of doors work practiced
by the women of Italy is fatal to female
grace and beauty. The Romans ladies are
remarkably beautiful. On the Pincian
HILL Corso, and other fashionable resorts,
women worthy to be the daughters of Cor
nelia are frequently seen. Nor are their
manners less fascinating than their per-
sonal charms. Most of the modern Ital-
ians are a mongrel race, and have little or
no reverence for the past glories of Italy.
Roman peasants sleep in the tomb of the
Motelli. Testers and mountebanks play
their fantastic tricks within site of that au-
gust spot where once stood the temple of
Jupiter Capitolinus, with its hundred stately
pillars, and within which, on throne Of
FURNISHED gold, stood the guardian deity of
ancient Rome, Jupiter, king of gods and
men. with one hand grasping the thunder
bolt and in the other holding the scepter of
the world. The Roman Forum, than which
no spot on earth is richer in glorious asso-
Citations was, until recently, used as a cattle
market, where the gray oxen of Italy grazed,
and bucolic peasants stood and stupidity
stared on the illustrious spot where once
AaI oil #
The famous Palatine Hill. crowned with
the ruins of the palace of the Caesars, is
used as kitchen garden, and now where
once the masters of the world bad their
beautiful pleasure grounds are raised cab
bages, artichokes and lettuce.
Observant travellers have remarked the
MINDLESS character of the climate of Italy.
Windmiils are unknown. a balmy, gen.
tie zephyr is the nearest approach to wind
in this genial climate, whose warm tn in
vites to outdoor rambles during the whole
winter. The people do many things in the
| open air which in our colder climate are
| done in the house. In some parts of Italy,
| especially in Naples and its vicinity, many
of the trades are carried on in the street.
! The cobbler has his stall, and the tailor
| plies his needle, in the open air; the bar
| Der shaves his customers on the corners,
and macarOni is cooked end eaten on the
street. The amusements are also taken in
| the open air, and generally are of the sort
| that please children rather than men and
| women. Take the far famed Carnival, for
| instance-what is it, when stripped of all
| its glitter and show? Amusements run
mad, fun turned into the widest bulfoon-
cry. To a sober-minded American, the
| Carnival seems to be sport better fitted
| for children than men. The poet says,
1 II g &c.
and the modern Italians are not much more
| than grown up children.
| Passing from the light and frivolous
| amusement of the Carnival to the stupen-
dous ruins of the Coliseum, and musing
amid its vast arena, where men and beasts
were butchered to make Roman holi-
| day." we are struck by the contrast between
| the fierce and bloody sports of the old Ro-
mans and the simple and childish amuse-
ments of the modern Italians. The differ
| ence in their amusemeDts is not more strik-
| ing than the difference in their character.
The ancient Romans planted their proud
eagles upon the walls of all the capitals of
the world. The modern Italians have
lived in q state of supine Indifference to the
glory of their ancestors, their feverish
passions only finding vent in civil commo-
tons or Ill secret assassinations. They are
|
| tons, fireworks, etc. They are very fond
of festas of all kinds, religious and secular.
They love to decorate themselves in gay
attire and are always ready for fun, how
ever fantastic. These idle light-hearted
people love to play but hate to work.
From the number of wine-shops in
Rome the stranger might think the Ital-
ians were great drinkers, but drunkenness
is almost unknown among the native pop
ulation from the number of bakeries and
meat-shops one might think the Italians
were great eaters, but they are not; from
the number of palaces one might suppose
that princes are as common as American
| Colonies, but the Italian palaces are not ali
occupied by Italian princes. In many
cases, when their owners live in them. they
inhahit only a portion of the vast pile in
which their ancestors once lived like
Kings, and often ruled like tvrants. The
| Cenci palace, of infamous memory, is now
a decayed clearinghouse. The present rep
resenta,ive of the family live in another
part of the city of Rome, and his wife is an
American, whose money is. perhaps, prop
ping up the fallen fortunes of his ancient
house. The Barberini palace has picture
gallery in one wing, dodgers in another,
and the family occupy the center This
| gallery contains the celebrated head
| OF beatrlce NeICl Dy OuluO heIl, W ulCu
has been made so common by inHumera-
BILE copies in oil, engravings and chromos.
| This palace was built from stone stolen
| from the Coliseum, and there is a saying in
| Rome that what the Barbarians spared the
| Barberini destroyed. Most of these CALLER
les are free to the public on certain days in
| the week. That is, you pay nothing to get
| in, but after yoR enter, the custodian locks
| the door, and when be lets the visitor out
be has very expectant look; indeed, in
some of these princely galleries the custo-
dian actually asks for fee, and grumbles
| when he does net get it. The tender grace
of the DAYS that are dead will never come
back to many of these stately palaces. The
| halls where princes feasted and beauties
! smiled have lost their former splendor, and
spiders weave their webs on the gilded
| ceilings once embeliished by the magic
pencil of Claude, while swarms of ragged
beggars infest the marble staircases where
once troops OF menials stood ready TO do
their masters will In wandering through
| the magnificent apartments of these palaces,
whose floors of marble or brick are desti-
| tute of carpets, and where no fireplaces
offer hospitable welcome, the visitor is
reminded OF the question of Pompey, when
viewing the stately halls in house just
erected by Lucdllus-" An excellent sum-
mer home, but how do you do in winter p
Truly has it been said of these splendid but
draarv, ebOdes that the marble columns