we are not sure that in matters of taste he is as safely to be depended on ; and we would rather incline to trust ourselves to Mr. Geale, where the beautiful and imaginative are the subjects of our investigation. The former has a cultivated mind, but we are not much impressed with his natural gift of appreciating as acutely as a more delicate and finer organization, such as the latter seems to possess, can do. We have read with great pleasure Mr. Geale's descriptions of the Forum, the Capitol, the Colosseum, and of many of the pictures and statuary at Rome; and we felt that he recalled our own thought, and realised our past impressions, with more vividness and pictorial power than his bolder co-labourer.

In the last room on the ground floor of the Palazzo Barberini, the eye of every visitor is arrested by the strange yet painful fascination of a solitary portrait. It is from the divine pencil of Guido Reni; it is the loveliest, the most wretched of her sex. What man ever looked upon the face of Beatrice Cenci without a rush of feelings, conflicting, undefinable-pity, indig nation, horror, almost sickness-as the story of her sufferings and her woes rises to his memory. "Oh, wonderful magician!"-As Propertius said of one who painted the god of love, so may we more truly exclaim of Guido,

"Nonne putas miras hunc habuisse manus ?"

How well canst thou shake and subdue the heart with thy tiny wand, tipped with the mimic pigment! Look at the tender, girlish loveliness of that countenance-its noble, yet haggard beauty; its gentle, melancholy abandon; the languid dejection, expressed in the head turned aside and slightly upwards; the pallor of that oval face, save where the faintest flushing tinges the cheek; the forehead, clear and smooth as if chiselled from veinless marble; the sad eye of rich hazel, with its swollen lid; the small, full red lips, slightly apart in relaxed langour, as if yet tingling from the torture-look at that visage where is blent, with marvellous power, the trouble of affliction with the calmness of innocence-look at all this, man of crime and of passion, and be unmoved if you can! Who is there that knows not the main incidents of this fearful story? The muse of Shelley has given it to fame, though Italy

sion.

long struggled to suppress it; and more recently, a writer in a contemporary periodical gives a different verEach puts forward a plausible claim for the authenticity of his narrative: Shelley assures us his was copied from the Archives of the Colonna Palace. Mr. Whittle asserts his information is taken from a manuscript which he discovered in a private library at Rome, and which he supposes was written by her confessor. Mr. Whiteside is too inquisitive a spirit to be satisfied with either, and institutes his own inquiries, which result in procuring a Florentine book, professing to be the "History of Beatrice Cenci," which he conjectures to have been written by the jurist Ademollo. This narrative is given at length, and differs in many respects from both the former; but it has much about it that bears the stamp of truth, and commends Beatrice more than ever to our pity and admiration. It is, indeed, a tale of harrowing interest, and its simple and unstrained statements move us far more than the tragedy of the poct. There is one piece of evidence, to us of irresistible weight in favor of Mr. Whiteside's version: the lovely face which Guido has bequeathed to the world could never have meditated parricide, or, were that even possible, could not have retained its impress of touching innocence after the conception of the crime.

We have some clever descriptions of men and manners, things holy and unholy, in Rome, from both our guides. Mr. Geale gives us a good sketch of the late pope's visit to St. Peter's in lent, and the doings during the holy week. Mr. Whiteside presents us with a very lively but somewhat too ludicrous a picture of the pope in conclave with his cardinals, on the occa sion of creating a new member of the sacred college. We cannot quite agree with him in the farcical view he takes of these ceremonies. Democritus would have made quite as quizzi. cal an affair of a royal coronation or christening, the installation of a Knight of the Garter or St. Patrick, or an ordinary court levee; and yet sober, sensible people can go through these matters without a sense of the ridiculous, or the slightest tax on their gravity. Here is a sketch of the celebrated Padre Ventura, done to the life:

It

"A popular orator he is, and of a high order; his age seems to be fifty, size a little above the middle stature, inclining to the muscular. Right eloquently did he harangue for three-quarters of an hour, being the most easily understood by a foreigner, of all Italian speakers or preachers I ever heard. must not be supposed the vigorous divine spoke without cessation; on the contrary, he wisely divided his discourse into compartments, and after an impetuous torrent of twenty minutes, received by the audience in silent attention, down he sat, and this was the signal for an universal burst of coughing, nose-blowing, and spitting, a practice most convenient-for in England, in the influenza months, a constant barking is maintained during the sermon, against which the preacher can hardly bear up; whereas in Italy, by a violent effort of nature, all the disagreeable customs of the people are repressed while the preacher speaks, and explode when he stops. Padre Ventura arises with renewed vigour, and declaims, with unhesitating fluency, a quarter of an hour, closing this part of his discourse with an incentive to alms-giving; when he sits down, there is another fit of coughing, during which boys hand round bags suspended to long poles, collecting bajocchi; every person gives a little. In the same interval an indulgence was proclaimed, on certain conditions to be performed the ensuing Sabbath. Il Padre Ventura arises for the third time like a giant refreshed with sleep, and sweeps onward in his course in a whirlwind of declamation; the subject lastly touched on inflames his eloquence-the church-the ancient church-the only church-the infallible church-the true church- the charitable church-the apostolic church-the falseness of all other churches the dismal fate of heretics and unbelievers-the joyful triumph of the faithful, and those who, like the audience, believe in her. Suppressed sighs were just audible; the preacher had done, the people were dismissed with a benediction, they to an immortality of bliss through the church, all heretics to eternal flames; the congregation seemed highly pleased with this positive announcement of the judgment to be awarded in a future state by Almighty God. Il Padre Ventura did all this admirably well, but if there be anything in Italy more revolting to a Christian man than another, it is when he hears a coarse monk, with flippant bigotry, sentence all mankind, not within the pale of his church, to eternal damnation."

The legal tribunals of Rome and its codes of jurisprudence are investigated

by Mr. Whiteside, and of neither is his account very flattering. The hand of the admirable reformer of Florence was wanted here, as indeed in most of the other Italian states:

66

Ascending by a flight of steps, we reached a lofty hall, where shabby people walked to and fro. The judges had not yet sat-I saw some men in coarse gowns, who I supposed to have been beadles. About eleven o'clock there was a rush towards the door-our guide hastened forward, and we were soon in an oblong room; opposite the entrance sat five judges in arm-chairs elevated on a raised floor; the man in the centre I concluded was a priest-all resembled ecclesiastics in their dress: a large crucifix stood on a table covered with green cloth. About a foot from the table was a ledge of wood running along the entire room; behind this sat the advocates, whom I now saw were the men I had mistaken for beadles. Their gowns were similar to those worn by our tipstaffs, the dress and appearance of the owners were unprepossessing in the extreme; at the upper end of the room lounged a crier, who called on each case. The pleadings were made up in little bundles of paper, which the advocates held, and as his case was called each counsel rose and spoke, and the cross chief-justice pronounced the rule, seldom consulting his learned brethren. These causes were disposed of quickly enough, but the parties had their appeal. There was a total absence of dignity in the aspect of the court, judges, and practitioners; the room and its arrangements were immeasurably inferior to a London police-office; yet this was a court of superior jurisdiction. Quitting this supreme court, we were conducted to the other civil tribunals. of these resembled a noisy court of conscience; a single judge sat here without dignity, and his judgments were received by a crowd of vulgar people, who pressed round him without respect. The jurisdiction of this inferior court reached the amount of 200 scudi (each scudo 4s. 6d.), a considerable sum in Rome."

One

Having then requested the advocate who accompanied them to lead them to the criminal court,

"He showed us a closed door leading to a chamber, wherein a criminal cause was proceeding, but regretted he could not gratify our curiosity, inasmuch as he himself had no right of entrance. The judges, the prisoner, his advocate, the procuratore fiscale prosecuting, and the guard, were the only persons per

mitted to be present at the trial. No relative or friend of the accused dares to cross the threshold of the court-no part of the evidence, trial, or sentence, can be published; the proceedings of the criminal tribunals are wrapped in impenetrable mystery. Mr. Pakenham asked, within what time after his arrest must a prisoner be tried? The advo cate answered there was no time fixed, nor any means of enforcing a trial; he admitted a prisoner might be from one to eight years in gaol, without being brought before any legal tribunal. This gentleman was a stranger to us, until the day of our visit; he said nothing against the system of Roman Criminal Justice, he merely described it; we took our leave, having learned something, even by a first visit to the courts of justice in the Eternal City. I confess the contrast between the meanness of the judicial, and the excessive splendour of the ecclesiastical system, surprised me. I had beheld the unrivalled grandeur of the church in Rome, its pompous ceremonies, splendid churches, the gorgeous finery of its priests-in comparison, the courts of justice resembled a barn or hay-loft, and its administrators were only on a level with the humblest sacristans."

With such a system of law, such judges, and such remuneration, is it to be wondered that the profession which we look on as the highest and most honourable, should in Rome be esteemed a base pursuit. Yet so it is

"The advocate," observes Mr. Whiteside, "is seldom, if ever, admitted into high society in Rome; nor can the princes (so called) or nobles comprehend the position of a barrister in England. They would as soon permit a facchino as an advocate to enter their palaces, and they have been known to ask with disdain (when accidentally apprised that a younger son of an English nobleman had embraced the profession of the law), what could induce his family to suffer the degradation? Priests, bishops, and cardinals, the poor nobles, or their impoverished descendants, will become-advocates or judges, never."

This is a fact of which English barristers have in general no idea, when they first set out on their travels. Well do we recollect one fine summer's morning, when, entering Italy at the frontier near Domo d'Ossolo, a friend of ours "wrote himself down an ass," by having attached to his passport the suffix of "avvocato."

Little law had he then in his head, and less experience; but he fancied, in his simplicity, that the word would be a panoply to a traveller, as announcing that he was of a class proverbially "wide awake," and on whom padrone or vetturino should not

"" run

a buck" with impunity. Soon, alas! he discovered his error-the simple "rentier" took the lead of him on all occasions, and he found invariably every young puppy with the fore shadowing of manhood on his upper lip, and a bit of red ribbon in his button-hole, and calling himself count or captain, save the mark! go a-head of him by a long chalk. But a bitterer humiliation was in store. An ill-favoured-looking fellow in Rome, a courier, made overtures to him, which moved our friend's indignation to the utmost. He had been in the service of some English "eccelenza" who had died. The fellow was under the delusion that he had left him a legacy, which the executor was not disposed to pay, and he had the hardihood to propound certain questions to "avvocato," touching the law of England as to such bequests, propos ing to retire to a neighbouring "trattoria," and pay the fee in a bottiglia del vino !" Need we say how our friend acted? The pride of brotherhood with "Roper on Legacies," and "Fearne on Contingent Remainders," sustained him he looked a thousand "Littletons" at the rascal, and dismissed him from his presence.

Our

The criminal code of Gregory is a melancholy contrast to that of Leopold. Mr. Whiteside states it at length in a note, and gives the following brief summary of its provi sions:

"Secret trials; suppression of names of witnesses and prosecutors; refusal of means of making defence against a charge alleged, it may be, by a private enemy; special commissions; torture of the accused by personal interrogatories in his prison; the code, barbarous as it is, giving no definition of sedition or treason, and leaving it to a court so constituted, to condemn (upon an extorted, or perverted answer) the unfortunate accused to death."

Such is the system, differing little from its original, the Inquisition, under which thousands of the Roman laity suffer-while, for the ecclesiastics, a milder trial and a lighter sentence is prescribed.

While Mr. Geale reached Naples by sea, Mr. Whiteside sought it by land, travelling, of course, as far as Capua in the footsteps of Horace. Everybody has read Horace, and knows what pleasant days and nights he made of it to Brundusium. We, therefore, can scarcely pardon the introduction of the whole tour at this time of day, neither do we feel surprise or gratification at the novel intelligence, that Velletri, Foro-Appio and Fondi were the ancient Velletræ, Forum Appii, and Fundi, or that Saint Paul stopped at "the Three Taverns."

The first impression which one receives of Naples and its motley people, is such as Mr. Geale describes it; passing the charming isles of Procida and Ischia, the bay, one of the loveliest on earth, is entered; Miseno, Pozzuoli, and Posilipo are successively passed, "the country-houses gleaming from amidst orange groves and vineyards:"

"Naples itself, in all its glory, burst upon our view, in the clear light of an autumnal morning, its churches and palaces reflecting the rays of the sun, and the deep azure of the skies of the blessed Campania.' Not a cloud was to be seen, save those which rested on the summit of Vesuvius; and, turning for a moment from the gay and lovely city, our regards became fixed on that black mountain, so deeply and fearfully associated with the history of this land and its inhabitants, the only dark and threatening feature in the smiling and lovely scene before us.

.

.

"I thought London noisy, but compared with Naples, it is tranquillity itself. In London, the population pour themselves along the great thoroughfares in a steady and continuous stream, and at regular periods-eastward, or 'city-ways,' in the morning, and westward in the afternoon; and all wear the same occupied and business look; but the vast and motley crowds of Naples whirl about in groups like eddies, or collect in crowds brought together by the mere exigencies of their animal and vagabond existence. Here we come upon a mob collected round a showman, screaming and gesticulating with delight-yonder is a crowd listening to some crack-brained and half-starved poet, who is reading from a dirty manuscript his verses. A little further on, we come upon a group of fishermen, 'i pescatori di Napoli,' who, with loud cries, are launching their boats, or hauling them in, while their wives are occupied selling their scaly prey, and

VOL. XXXII.-NO. CXC.

adding, with all the proverbial volubility of their craft, their sweet voices to swell the general uproar. Here hungry crowds stand impatiently round the stalls of the maccaroni venders; while others collect round the stalls where fried fish is sold.

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Any description of Naples would be incomplete that did not introduce the countless fiacres, cabriolets, and carriages of all sorts, and the miserable animals that draw them, as well as the attempt to give an idea of the noise and confusion of Naples, without taking into account the cries and cracking of the whips of their wild and ruthless drivers, as if their legs could not carry them fast enough in the maddening pursuit of pleasure or excitement. classes take to carriages, and whirl about from one end of the city to the other, with a mad rapidity that is truly astonishing-the nobleman, in his gaudy carriage, and lackeys in tawdry liveries-officers in bright uniforms-priests in couples, and burly friars-brokendown soldiers and buffoons, and washerwomen and lazzaroni, all seem equally to regard carriage exercise as a thing essential to existence."

All

At Naples we have Mr. Whiteside at his old occupation, investigating the laws, and the mode of their administration. All that is rational in the scheme of criminal law, dates from 1819. The preliminary proceedings, preparatory to the public trial, though by no means comparable to those of Tuscany, are infinitely superior to the barbarous provisions of the papal Gregorian code, to which we have already alluded. The trial is public, as far as being accessible to the accused, his friends and advisers the prisoner may select his advocate, or will have one assigned him. The prosecutor and prisoner exchange lists of their respective witnesses, who are fully described; the evidence of parents and children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, paid informers, or defenders of the accused, who have, in that capacity, gained the knowledge of the facts, is excluded absolutely; witnesses under fourteen are not sworn; nor is the prisoner, though interrogated, bound to answer the public prosecutor has the final reply, and then the judges deliberate on the facts and the law in private. Each party has an appeal to the Supreme Court, giving notice within three days. The punishments are not severe, except for offences

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