their object to instruct ignorant youth and to portion virgin innocence; I need only say, that every want and every misfortune are certain of meeting with corresponding assistance from some band or other of generous brethren; and the traveller who contemplates the unwearied exertions of so many individuals united for such noble purposes will be obliged to acknowledge, that in no country has charity assumed so many forms, or tried so many arts, to discover and to assuage the complicated varieties of human misery. These associations are composed principally of the middling classes, because in all countries these classes possess the greatest share of virtue and of compassion; yet, the most exalted characters for rank, fortune, and talents, enrol their names among them, and frequently distinguish themselves by their zeal and by their activity in the career of benevolence. On ́ all public occasions, it is true, the members wear a dress that disguises and levels all ranks, under an appearance, grotesque and ridiculous perhaps in the eyes of a stranger, but very well contrived to stifle that vanity which is so often the stimulus and the bane of public generosity.

From these superabundant funds of public and private charities, the poor of Italy, a class more numerous there than in most other countries, owing in general to its great population, and in particular to the stagnating commerce, the declining manufactures, and the narrow policy of many of its States, are supported with comfort to themselves and with a certain sense of independence, without the oppressive burthen of poor rates, so inadequate to their object and so galling to the community.

After these details, in which I am not conscious of exaggera tion or of misrepresentation, I think myself warranted in con

cluding, that a Religion which thus manifests its influence by so many effusions of devotion, and by so many deeds of benevolence, must be, or I know not what can be, true genuine Christianity.

Before I drop this subject, it may be proper to say something on the attention paid to the instruction of youth in Italy, as we have been assured by several travellers, that the lower classes in that country are not only neglected but purposely kept in a state of ignorance: but in this, as in many other instances, such writers either have allowed themselves to be blinded by their prejudices, or have given their opinion without the degree of observation requisite to ascertain its accuracy. In opposition to this partial and injurious representation, I shall state the following facts. In the diocese of Milan, or to speak more properly, in the vast tract of country, included between the Alps and the Apennines, and subject to the visitation of the archiepiscopal See of Milan, in every parochial church the bell tolls at two o'clock on every Sunday in the year, and all the youth of the parish assemble in the church: the girls are placed on one side, the boys on the other: they are then divided into classes according to their ages and their progress, and instructed either by the clergy attached to the church, or by pious persons who voluntarily devote their time to this most useful employment; while the pastor himself goes from class to class, examines sometimes one, sometimes another, and closes the whole at four o'clock by a catechistical discourse. The writer first observed this mode of instruction at Desensano, on the borders of the Lago di Garda, then at Mantua, and finally, in the Cathedral of Milan, whose immense nave and aisles, almost equal in extent to St. Peter's, were then crowded with youths and with

children. He was struck more than once with the great readiness of the answers, and often edified by the patience and the assiduity of the teachers.

In other parts of Italy children are catechised regularly, and almost invariably in the parish church by their pastor, and besides these general instructions every young person is obliged to attend a course of instruction for some months previous to the first Communion, and again before Confirmation. It may perhaps be asked, what the catechisms contain, and whether they are compiled with judgment and discretion. As I have several of these little elementary books in my possession, I am enabled to answer that they contain an explanation of the Creed, the Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Sacraments, and have oftentimes annexed an account of the festivals, fasts, and public ceremonies, so that whatever redundancies the Protestant reader may find in the compilation, he can never complain of the omission or of the neglect of essentials. The truth is, and in spite of prejudice it must be spoken, the Italian common people are, to say the least, full as well acquainted with the truths, the duties, and the motives of religion as the same class in England, and instances of very gross ignorance seldom occur unless in the superabundant population of great towns and of overgrown Capitals. It is, I know, generally believed that the principal source of religious information is shut up in Italy, (and indeed in all catholic countries,) by the prohibition of translated Bibles; but this opinion, though supported by the united authority of the pulpit and of the press, is founded upon a slight mistake. Translations, when supposed to alter the sense or to degrade the dignity of the sacred Writings, (and many such have been circulated in most countries,) are pro

hibited; when considered as tolerably accurate, they are allowed and encouraged. Of the latter description, an Italian translation exists, penned with great elegance, and recommended to public perusal by no less than papal authority.

After this impartial exposition, I think it may be fairly concluded, and my reader, if one single spark of christian charity glows in his bosom, will rejoice in the conclusion; in the first place, that in a country thus superabounding in works of benevolence, the spirit of charity, that characteristic mark of genuine Christianity, must be alive and active; and in the second place, that a nation, furnished with so many means of instruction, cannot perish through ignorance of the saving doctrines of the Gospel.

But many of my readers may exclaim, with surprize and impatience: What! are then the accounts of Italian superstition and bigotry, which we have so often read and so often laughed at, all false? Is there no idolatry in Italy, no priestcraft, no abuse? Surely, our author must be blinded by his partiality, and, in his enthusiasm, extend his admiration even to the absurdities and the deformities of its corrupted religion. Without doubt, the author has his prejudices, and may be influenced not a little perhaps by his enthusiasm; but his prejudices and his enthusiasm lean, he hopes, towards benevolence, and prompt him to pity and to excuse the errors of his fellow creatures. He abandons to Burnet, Addison, Misson, &c. and to the herd of travellers who follow their traces, the task of inflaming animosity, and of working up the zeal of the reader into fury by misconceived and overcharged descriptions. He wishes to lull those stormy passions to rest, to reconcile his reader to his fellow

creatures beyond the Alps, and to prevail upon him to extend to their abuses and their weaknesses some portion of that indulgence, which he seldom refuses to the absurdities and the follies that, now and then, attract his attention at home. To answer the abovementioned query, therefore, many abuses, without doubt, may be observed in Italy; some priestcraft, if by priestcraft be meant an interested attempt to work upon the simple piety of the people, but I believe and trust, no idolatry. It may here perhaps be expected, that I shall amuse my readers with a long enumeration of ridiculous pictures, wonder-working images, all-powerful indulgencies; exhibit to their delighted eyes, a grotesque line of friars,

White, black, and grey, and all their trumpery;

and close the whole with an authentic document, giving pardon to past, present, and future sins. No! I have too great a respect for the public understanding at present to insult it with such trash, and shall endeavour to present to it, as a better entertainment, some reflections on the origin, progress, and probable reformation of these abuses.

In the regions of the South, where the sky is bright and nature beautiful, where the heart is warm and the imagination active, external demonstrations have ever been employed to express feelings too big for utterance, and external shews introduced to convey impressions and excite sentiments grand and sublime, beyond the reach of ordinary language. The demonstrations of respect used anciently in the East, are well known; nor is it necessary to recall to the recollection of the reader the passages in the Book of Genesis, which represent Abraham prostrate