BOOKS.

NAPLES: POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIOIOL'S.•

THE Lord B of this titlepage is known for one or two fictions illustrative of social and economical questions, in which the observations and reflections possessed a good deal more merit than the qualities distinctive of the novelist,—namely, the 'lower of dramatically developing character and the art of telling a story. These sketches of Naples form a much better book than we should have expected from the " antecedents " of the writer, and the questionable propriety of claiming a title and tacking to it asterisks to indicate a distinguished name. The pictures, in.. deed, are slight and superficial ; but they are lively, and as bright as the colours and climate they reflect. Where the sketches re- fer to manners or conduct, they are characteristic; the stories illustrative of vice or villany have much of vraisemblance, occa. sionally mingled with traits of romance. The book has a deeper use. It tends to prove what many persons have thought, though our rulers do not seem to be among the number, that the great mass of the Neapolitans of every class lazzaroni, _peasantry, middle-classes, and nobility—axe thoroughly, and, for this ge- neration at all events, hopelessly ignorant, superstitious, cruel, cowardly, and fraudulent, with a state of moral corruption which cannot bo comprehended, because the facts necessary to display it cannot be printed for English eyes. The men whose enlighten- ment renders them superior to their countrymen, and who for these last thirty or forty years have patriotically Ariven to raise their country, are the merest minority. If they have a following it is only a country, during success, and melts away like the admirers of Se anus on the first reverse : "Nunquam, si quid mihi credis, amavi hunc hominem." It would appear almost doubtful whether the members of this minority now exist, except in exile or scattered obscurity : the class is, or was, in the state prisons, There seems little doubt that the systematic proceedings of the late Emperor Nicholas, by educational and promotional regula- tions, exile, and other temptations or force, have pretty well destroyed the nationality of the Polish noblesse : it is not unlikely that Ferdinand of Naples has, by a process more simple, brief, and cruel, destroyed the class of Neapolitan patriots.

These deductions we have in a measure drawn from the facts put forth in these volumes. They seem the more worthy of be- lief because they are really opposed to the writer's wishes. The Lord B 's principles are philanthropic and advancing. He is, in a general way, rather partial to the Neapolitans than other- wise ; and when he can escape from the particular into the gene- ral, he has a good word for them, though it amounts to little more than that the Neapolitans are good-tempered when pleased, and the natural raw material is not amiss. The writer has met or heard of good characters in all classes : even some maid-ser- vants are staid and respectable, restrained from the usual licen- tiousness by the power of their intellect, and become capital ser- vants, from the national good temper and rather spaniel-like loyalty : there may be some moral and enlightened priests. All this, however, is in the abstract. As soon as we get to the con- crete, laziness, fraud, filthiness, selfishness without even family affection or care, and other darker offences, mentionable or un- mentionable, loom up rather thickly. One wonders how society holds together : the only explanation seems to be, that all are tarred with the same brush ; that the climate enables those who are careless of appearance to do pretty well without clothes, fire, or payment of rent; and that provisions, to the natives, are very cheap. The story of degradation in some form Cr other continues throughout. As soon as the travellers emerged from the custom- house at Naples business commenced.

" We had scarcely reentered the street, when our adventures began- Whilst proceeding to our carriage, one of the gentlemen of our party who was walking at my side, turned suddenly round, and with a heavy stick which he carried gave some one a tremendous blow across the back. Utterly astonished, I looked for the object of his rage, and beheld a strong hand- some young fellow, with no other clothing than a pair of linen trousers, skulking quietly off, and rubbing his bare shoulders with a very silly air. He had his hand in my friend's pocket, though without being suffi- ciently adroit to get anything for his trouble lint a good cudgelling. N °- body near us took any notice, and we walked on.

" More than twenty Lazzaroni, with red woollen nightcaps and linen trou- sers, some with a jacket hung over their shoulders by way of a cloak, and sonic with none, three or four with shirts, and many more without, insisted, with a maddening confusion and clamour, on carrying our three packages to ear hotel ; and it was with the utmost diiculty that one of my companions, who spoke their patois fluently, succeeded, between jesting and threatening, in rescuing our possessions from their care, and transferring them to the car- riages that awaited us. But even that 'did not prevent each from demand- ing payment for his services. One had lifted a trunk from the ground— another had set it down again—a third would have carried it to the hotel if we had not prevented him, and so forth ; and when we had distributed a handful of small coin amongst these insatiable beggars, they still continued to follow us, screaming as they ran that they deserved to be better paid. continued an

avowed beggars accompanied or followed the lazzaroni on the above occasion, nor did the author ever get rid of them- Here they are on an early excursion to Vesuvius.

"Though the palaces of the rich in this dangerous neighbourhood are generally forsaken, the poor absolutely swarm in all the villages along the base of the mountain ; and there is here more appearance of industry, acti- vity, and trade, than in any other part of the environs of Naples. Bath French and English have, in fact, established iron-works in and near Por- tici ; and, at a little village a short distance beyond Pompeii, a Swiss com- • Naples: Political, Social, and Religious. By Lord 11•••0•••, Author of "Masters and Workmen," 4-c. In two volumes. Published by Newb,. fly,- has for several years carried on a cotton-mill, for the fabric of the gay handkerchiefs universally in use among the lower order of Neapolitan females, There is likewise a trade in oranges, and the wines of Vesuvius are in high repute. Nevertheless, even here, in the midst of abundance and smiling plenty, it is a painful fact, that there exists a mass of misery which would be frightful in any other land. But the Neapolitans can live on that on which any other people would starve ; for their bright climate supplies the want of house and lire, and almost clothing. They sleep in the so, and if they can obtain a few grans for the bare necessaries of life; they will rarely work ; nor are they troubled by any anxious thoughts for the morrow. The whole road actually swarmed with beggars. If you carried a sack of coin it would not suffice for the thousands of miserable wretches who besiege you with their clamour, and make a spectacle of their infirmi- ties: wherever you go, you are sure to be thus surrounded—in the streets of the city, in the country, and above all in the churches. The crippled, the blind, the maimed and diseased, are permitted to throng the temples of the Divinity, and to pursue the devotee or the stranger to the very loot of the altar with their importunate petitions for charity ; whilst the priests, in garments of lace, fine linen, and precious embroidery, pass them by as if blind to their misery and deaf to their petitions. The children have abso- lutely nothing else to do than to beg, and everywhere follow the stranger, by dozens, with the same mournful whine. But though the verty is frightful and real., we soon found that it was impossible to give s to one or two, without drawing on ourselves the almost distracting pursuit of a crowd of clamorous, miserable wretches, who seem obstinately determined to take no denial. Nor is it to the lowest ranks that beggary is confined ; it has been said, no man in Naples is too prowl to beg, few are too noble to

steal. To cheat is the universal profession. * *

"Though the forms of the buildings are picturesque, and the vines trail- ing over stone arcades and external staircases give an air of elegance to the meanest cottage, there is a dirt and desolation in the village streets which it is painful to behold. There is evidently no sense of order either amongst the people or their governors; there is no desire of progress, no wish to ex- cel; individuals and the nation are content to stand still amidst their dirt, their rags, their poverty, and their ignorance. They have no shame, no love of decency ; and even a great number of the women, it should seem, are so degraded as to have lost the mere attention to personal appearance which is natural to the sex. Nothing progresses save the priests, more especially the Jesuits, who every day add to their numbers and their power."

Of the extortion to which strangers are subject the author has a good deal to say. There are few countries out of 'England where the whole is held to contain the parts, and an agreement for any- thing, say a furnished apartment, implies the presence of what is fairly necessary to its use. Even in England, lodginghouse- keepers have an indifferent reputation ; and guidebooks are full of warnings against the same class in France. The Neapolitans excel only in degree, and more frankly " brazen it out"

" Here [Castellamare} many Neapolitan and foreign families resort dur- ing the hot season. But here, as well as in the city, though apartments are extremely dear, strangers should be certain before they take possession of a lodging that it contains everything necessary for their use. After they are once in the house, it is vain to demand any promises previously made by the landlord; they have only been uttered to beguile, without the smallest idea of their being binding.

"A gentleman of our acquaintance, who took an apartment for the sum- mer, found on his arrival that it contained only one tea-cup for himself, his irife, and nine children ; and on his complaining to the mistress of the house, received for answer, that they must pass it from one to another, and do with it as well as they could, for she had no more to give. The only re- source in such an emergency is to withhold the rent, which it is the custom to pay in advance, till the stipulated necessaries are provided."

Luckily, the ancient builders of Naples seem to have worked solidly, otherwise, from the neglect of repairs, the houses would have fallen down. Ancient furniture, we all know, was rather massy ; and that preserves chairs, tables, &c., though in rather a dilapidated state, except in places expressly furnished to let to the English. The followuig passages begin with middle-class life and menage at Naples, and go into a variety of domestic topics.

"To enter the dwellings of families of the higher classes of the middle ranks, (people of four or five hundred a year, derived from an honourable profession, an income in Naples equivalent to double that amount in Eng- land,) you are frequently obliged to cross a court, and ascend a staircase, whose abominations are not to be described, to apartments which are not many shades better. The furniture is left to go to wreck and ruin ; the cleanliness that labours to put a polish upon all things, is utterly unknown. The dirty brick floors, on which every one spits at pleasure are without

ts, the windows and beds without curtains, and on the bare white- washed walls remain the accumulated stains of many years. To complete the picture, it has happened to us that a huge turkey, cherished for a fu- ture Christmas dinner, has on the first floor walked in from the kitchen, whilst his companions were heard perambulating through the bedrooms, and hopping about on the beds, at their pleasure. The fat, careless mis- tress of the establishment, if she have no worse pursuit, spends the greatest part of her time, -when not at the theatre or the promenade, in lounging over the rails of her balcony, and gazing on the passers-by, in going to church and confession, and chattering with her priests. "The very dress of these women is sufficient evidence of their idleness. No neat white cap, nor clean collar, ever betokens their attention to neat- ness, nor sets off their dark complexions to advantage. Their hair, moist- ened with common olive-oil, till it becomes rancid in the hot summer, if they have no one to arrange it, remains all day in disgusting confusion ; and when they have passed the years of youth, is habitually covered with the eternal coloured silk handkerchief, tied under the chin like Scotch fish- women, which appears to be the most favourite article of attire with all Neapolitan women of the middle and lower orders. A second is worn as a shawl, hiding-all the deficiencies in form and fashion of her dirty gown ; for these slovenly coverings have the double advantage of saving both work and washing. Of the further mysteries of the toilette we will say nothing ; it is sufficient to know that they are neglected by women of every rank, in a manner that is peculiarly objectionable in a Southern climate. All the luxury and even neatness of attire is reserved for the promenade, the thea- tre, the church, or paying visits Land on such occasions women of all el-Ases are exorbitantly extravagant. How their fine clothes and their tickets and ar for the theatre are procured with their small incomes, would fre- gener23" she a mystery, were it not well known that husbands permit their wives to accept such indulgences from their male acquaintance, or lovers, when they are either unwilling or unable to pay for them themselves. " When a girl is not married at thirteen or fourteenyears of age, which now happens less frequently than formerly, she rarely fails to have a lover, when in Northern countries she would be considered still a child ; and the tender interest of such a connexion entirely engrosses her young mind, and

all thought of further education is at an end, at the very time when it influence is the meet required.

"After marriage, no idea of rendering home comfortable or agreeable to their husbands ever enters the minds of the women i they seem rarely to. have a sense that any duties are attached to the union they have formed. Utterly ignorant of domestic concerns, as well as of the affairs of life, the young wife tee often finds that her influence over the affections of her hus- band

is of short duration. It rarely survives the birth of her first child. Neglected and betrayed, and without principles to direct her course or check the fiery passions of her nature, it can scarcely be wondered at, that a young creature, under such circumstances, listens to the advances of the fret lover that pleases her fancy ; and the solid happiness of her life is de- strayed for ever. Her mind engrossed by passion, her children, if she has the misfortune to have a family, are neglected and left to the care of some wretched servant, who, the confidante of her mistress's shame, however abandoned or dishonest she may be, can neither be reproved nor dismissed ; the household falls into disorder; and.by degrees, as the woman thus lost advances in years, she becomes callous to the stings of conscience or the language of reproach, and pursues her course without scruple or shame.

" Perhaps the husband is deceived, perhaps not, and he connives at the vices of which he set the first example. In either case, domestic peace has fled their dwelling for ever, and quarrels in many. instances become fre- quent and violent, in which personal chastisement is said to be often prac- tised at the woman's expense. " When such is the common history of married life, it is no wonder that the education of the children is neglected; neglected as regarda both mind and body. From the cradle to the grave, the women may be said to think of no tomorrow. The pleasure of the day, and the gratification of some momentary passion are their sole pursuits. Their modes of thinking are totally different &in the virtuous females of Northern counties; and, yielding to the influence of every transitory impulse, which with them is a passion, they are utterly ignorant of all those feelings of delicacy and scruples of innocence and shame which spring from righteous principles and native modesty. Even the chaste are without those sentiments of truth and dig- nified virtue which awaken respect."

There are some dark stories of the licentiousness and vengeance of the priests, as well as of the formal practice of assassination, glimpses of the training and education of the young, and a variety of similar topics. There are also some more favourable instances, though they seldom pass beyond manners ; with a good many anecdotes illuatrative of the character and behaviture of the various classes ; and some striking descriptions of scenery. This original matter is contained in little more than half the work. A large portion of the second volume is occupied with a summary account of Neapolitan revolutionary history; which perhaps constitutes the " Political" of the title. It is rapidly done, and forms a use- ful précis ; but the facts were already known to many readers, and it could certainly have been written without going to Naples.