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THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN ITALY.


   [Illustration: THE CORNICHE ROAD.]


                                  THE
                         ENGLISHWOMAN IN ITALY.


                          IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE
                                 IN THE
                       ROMAN STATES AND SARDINIA,
                     DURING A TEN YEARS' RESIDENCE.

                                   BY
                            MRS. G. GRETTON.



                                LONDON:
                    HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
                      SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,
                     13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.




                     JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER I.                                                   PAGE

  Departure from Florence—The Vettura—Inn among the
    Apennines—General aspect of towns in Romagna—Causes
    of their decay—Austrian officers at Forli—Dangers
    of the road—First impressions of Ancona                       1

  CHAPTER II.

  Description of the Palazzo—An English family, though
    Italian born—Complimentary visits of the Anconitan
    nobility—How they pass their time—Dislike to country
    walks—Modern _Cavaliere Servente_                            10

  CHAPTER III.

  A marriage in high life—Wedding outfit—The first
     interview—Condition of single women—The laws of
     courtship—Dependence of young married people—Anecdotes
     of mothers-in-law                                           19

  CHAPTER IV.

  System pursued towards children—Results of Jesuit
    training—Anecdotes of the Sacré Cœur—A
    _Contessina_ just out of the convent—Difficulty
    of giving a liberal education to young nobles—No
    profession open to them but the Church—Their
    ignorance and idleness                                       26

  CHAPTER V.

  The middle classes—Superior education of the men—Low
    standard of female intellect and manners—Total
    separation from the nobility—Cultivated physician—A
    peep into his household—Family economy—_Conversazione_
    at the chemist's—Passion for gambling—The _caffè_            37

  CHAPTER VI.

  Prejudice against fires—General dilapidation of
    dwelling-houses—A lady's _valet de chambre_—Kindness
    towards servants—Freedom of intercourse with their
    masters—Devotedness of Italians to the sick—Horror of
    death—Funerals—Mourning                                      46

  CHAPTER VII.

  Decline of Carnival diversions—Dislike to being brought
    into contact with Austrians—The theatre—Public
    _Tombole_—Short-sighted policy of the Government             59

  CHAPTER VIII.

  The Lottery—Its miserable results—Evening parties—Absence
    of all ostentation—Poverty no crime—Grand supper on
    Shrove Tuesday—Reception of a Cardinal                       67

  CHAPTER IX.

  Picturesque environs of Ancona—Dwellings of the
    peasantry—Their simplicity and trust—Manner of life
    and amusements—A wedding feast                               76

  CHAPTER X.

  A rural christening—The young count                            86

  CHAPTER XI.

  Lent observances—Compulsory confession—The sepulchres on
    Holy Thursday—Procession on Good Friday—Blessing the
    houses—Joyful celebration of Easter                          95

  CHAPTER XII.

  Festivals of the Madonna—The Duomo—Legend of San
    Ciriaco—Miraculous Picture—Course of sermons by Padre
    G———General irreligion of the Anconitans—Ecclesiastical
    tribunal of 1856—The Sacconi                                103

  CHAPTER XIII.

  Political condition of Ancona—Arrogance of the Austrian
    General—Strictness of the martial law—A man shot on the
    denunciation of his wife—Application of the
    stick—Republican excesses—Proneness to
    assassination—_Infernal Association_ in 1849                110

  CHAPTER XIV.

  Execution of a criminal—Sympathy for his fate—The
    Ghetto—Hardships of the Jews—The case of the Mortara
    child not without precedent—Story of the Merchant and
    his niece                                                   121

  CHAPTER XV.

  A wedding in the Ghetto—Contrast between the state of the
    Christian and Hebrew population—Arrival of the
    post—Highway robberies—Exploits of Passatore                128

  CHAPTER XVI.

  A visit to Macerata—The journey—The Marziani
    family—Volunnia the old maid—The Marchesa Gentilina's
    midnight communications                                     137

  CHAPTER XVII.

  Comfortless bed-room—National fear of water—Waste of
    time—Occupations of the different members of the
    family—Volunnia's sitting-room—Her acquirements             145

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  Volunnia's inquisitiveness—Her strictures on English
    propriety—The Marchesa Silvia's dread of heretics—The
    dinner—The Marchesa Gentilina knits stockings and
    talks politics                                              151

  CHAPTER XIX.

  A conversazione verbatim—Admiration for Piedmont—An
    attack of banditti—The Marchesa describes the actual
    wretchedness of the country—Cardinal Antonelli's addition
    to the calendar year—Monopoly of the corn trade—Entrance
    of the Knight of Malta                                      160

  CHAPTER XX.

  Conversazione continued—Match-making—The Codini opposed
    to travelling—Hopes of the liberals centred in
    Piedmont—Volunnia's pleasantries—Story of the young
    noble and his pasteboard soldiers                           169

  CHAPTER XXI.

  Unwillingness of the Italians to speak on serious
    topics—Indifference of the majority to literature—Reasons
    for discouraging the cultivation of female
    intellect—The Marchesa Gentilina relates her convent
    experiences—Admiration of English domestic life             176

  CHAPTER XXII.

  On the study of music in the Marche—Neglect of
    painting—The young artist—His hopeless love—His
    jealousy—His subsequent struggles and constancy             187

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  From Ancona to Umana—Moonlight view—The
    country-house—Indifference of the Anconitans to flowers
    and gardening—Ascent of the mount—Magnificent prospect
    at sunrise—Trappist convent                                 196

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  The bishop's palace at Umana—Inroad of beggars—The
    grotto of the slaves—The physician's political
    remarks—Approach to Loretto—Bad reputation of its
    inhabitants—Invitation from the Canonico                    204

  CHAPTER XXV.

  The Santa Casa—Pilgrims—The treasury—Exquisite statues
    and bassi-rilievi—Chocolate at the Canonico's—La Signora
    Placida—A survey of the house—The rich vestments            214

  CHAPTER XXVI.

  Visit to the Carmelites at Jesi—Our joyous reception—The
    casino and theatre—Infractions of convent discipline—The
    dinner near the sacristy—In company with the friars we
    visit the nuns                                              224

  CHAPTER XXVII.

  The writer's motive for not having dwelt minutely on
    political or historical subjects—Antiquity of Ancona—Its
    reputation under the Roman Empire—Its celebrated
    resistance to the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa—Stratagem
    employed by its deliverers—Continues to be a free city
    till 1532, when it is surprised by Gonzaga, General of
    Pope Clement VII., and subjected to the Holy
    See—Flourishes under Napoleon—Restoration of the
    Papacy—Pontifical possessions—Explanation of the terms,
    Legations and Romagna—Bologna conquered in 1506, by
    Julius II., but retains a separate form of
    government—Ferrara, Urbino, &c.—Dates of their
    annexation                                                  234

  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  Injudicious policy of the Government at the
    Restoration—Non-fulfilment of the _Motu proprio_
    of Pius VII.—Disappointment of the pontifical
    subjects—Inability of Cardinals Consalvi and Guerrieri
    to contend against the narrow views of their
    colleagues—Reasons of Austria's animosity against the
    former—Guerrieri's projected reforms bring about his
    fall—The constitutional movement of 1820-21—Its effect
    in the Papal States—Abuse of Consalvi's
    instructions—Extreme political rigour under Leo
    XII.—Distracted condition of the country—The
    _Sanfedisti_ rising of 1831—First Austrian army
    intervention in Romagna—Conferences at Rome—Mr
    Seymour's protest—Fresh disturbances in the
    Legations—The Austrians again occupy Bologna—The French
    land at Ancona—The reign of Gregory XVI.                    241

  CHAPTER XXIX.

  Accession of Pius IX.—The amnesty—His unbounded
    popularity—His reforms and concessions—Disasters
    entailed by the French Revolution—The encyclical of the
    29th April—Revulsion of feeling—The Mazzinians gain
    ground—Austrian intrigues—Assassination of Count
    Rossi—The Pope's flight to Gaeta—Efforts of the
    Constitutionalists to bring about an accommodation—The
    republic is proclaimed in Rome—Excesses in Ancona and
    Senigallia—Moderation of the Bolognese—Their courageous
    resistance to General Wimpffen—Siege of Ancona—Extreme
    severities of the victors                                   252

  CHAPTER XXX.

  Rome subjugated by the French—Leniency of General
    Oudinot—Rigour of the Pope's Commissioners—Investigation
    into the opinions of Government _employés_—Disfavour
    of the Constitutionalists—The Pope's edict and second
    amnesty—He returns to his capital, April, 1850—Bitter
    disappointment of the Romans—Count Cavour's appeal to
    the Congress of Paris on their behalf—The Papal progress
    in 1857—Public feeling at the opening of 1859—Excitement
    in the Pontifical States at the outbreak of the war—The
    Austrians evacuate Bologna—Establishment of