St. Dominic founded the Order of the Preachers, better known under the denomination of Dominicans.

The Carmelites affect to trace their origin to the prophet Elias, and only underwent a reform at the Christian era; they were discovered by some military pilgrim during the Crusades, on the top of Mount Carmel, and were thence transplanted to Italy, and other European countries, where, notwithstanding the changes of climate they grew and flourished for several centuries.

The Augustines or Austin Friars, so called because they drew their statutes from the works of St. Augustin, were little different from the rest of the fraternity.

All these, and others of less note, were originally intended to act as assistants to the clergy in the discharge of their parochial duties, but in process of time the auxiliaries became more numerous than the main body, and not unfrequently excited its jealousy and hatred by trenching upon its prerogatives, and by usurping part of its credit and of its functions. In fact, they had contrived, first, by pontifical exemptions, to shake off the legal authority of their respective bishops; next, by similar concessions, to acquire some share of their apostolical powers; and, lastly, by certain privileges annexed to their oratories to gather congregations and to draw the people away from the regular parochial service. These were great abuses, and in towns, where the Friars had numerous convents, tended not a little to divert the attention of the public from the spirit and the simplicity of the ancient liturgy, to shews, images, and exhibitions.

However, to compensate, if any compensation can be made for such evils, the mendicant Orders produced several great men ; each in its time had roused the age from a lethargy of ignorance, and had awakened, partially at least, a spirit of inquiry and of improvement. Besides, in small towns, in numerous villages, and in lonely or distant provinces, they still continue to fulfil their original object, and, as I have hinted above, to afford a necessary assistance to the ordinary pastors. They are, in general, considered as too numerous, and from the frequency with which they meet the eye in certain Capitals, I am inclined to admit this conclusion. But, as the population of Italy is very great, amounting to eighteen millions at least, and as all that immense population professes the same religion, the surplus may not be so excessive as is usually imagined. At all events, this evil is daily diminishing, and the succeeding generations in Italy, as in most other countries, will probably have reason to lament the want, rather than complain of the number, of religious ministers.

To conclude. There are in the religion of Italy some, and indeed not a few, abuses, and among these abuses we may rank the multiplicity of ceremonies, and the introduction of theatrical exhibitions and theatrical music into the church; the general use and exaggeration of certain popular and undignified forms of devotion; and, in fine, the unnecessary number of religious establishments. These abuses originate partly from the influence of the climate and from the genius of the people, and partly from the natural effects of Ages, which, as they roll on, sometimes improve and sometimes deteriorate human institutions. To remove them entirely, is difficult; to eradicate them at once, would be dangerous and perhaps not possible. The whole business of reform must be

left to the zeal of enlightened pastors, to public opinion, to the inquisitive and critical spirit of the age, and to Time, so apt to destroy his own work and to root up weeds, which he himself has planted.

Quod ætas vitium posuit, ætas auferet.

Pub. Syr.

At all events, one obvious reflection presents itself to console the benevolent and truly Christian reader, whose expansive heart embraces all mankind, and who of course wishes rather to enlarge than to narrow the conditions of pardon and the pale of salvation. Of all the abuses here enumerated, not one, in the opinion of an enlightened Protestant, can touch the essence of Christianity; not one can obscure the splendour of the Divine perfections; not one can affect the mediation of the Redeemer, or obstruct the active and efficient operation of the three prime and all-enlivening virtues of Faith, of Hope, and of Charity. On the contrary, most, if not all, may be attributed to a well-intended, though an ill-directed zeal, a fault which, if any human failing can deserve indulgence, doubtless merits it most, and may probably experience it soonest. With this reflection ever uppermost in his mind, the most zealous Protestant may traverse Italy with composure, bear its abuses with temper, treat a monk or even a friar with civility, and still consider himself as in a Christian country.

NATIONAL CHARACTER.

VIII. After having thus taken a cursory view of the Climate, of the History, of the Literature, and of the Religion of Italy,

we shall proceed to make some observations on the National Character of its inhabitants; observations the more necessary, as the subject has been much distorted by prejudice and by misrepresentation. National, like individual character, is, I am aware, a wonderful texture, composed of threads oftentimes so fine, and frequently so interwoven, as to escape the notice of the most penetrating observer. But this obscurity affects only the more delicate tints, and leaves the principal and constituent colours their full strength and effect. The latter part of this observation becomes more applicable to such individuals and nations as are placed in trying circumstances, which neces sarily call forth all the passions, and oblige nature to exert without controul all her latent energies. On such occasions the character throws off every disguise, and displays all its peculiar and distinctive features. Now, if ever any nation has been placed in such circumstances it certainly is the Italian, and consequently we should be led to conclude, that no national character could be more open to observation, and more capable of being drawn with strict accuracy and precision. Yet, the very contrary has happened, and never surely were any portraits more overcharged, and more totally unlike the original, than the pictures which some travellers have drawn (at leisure apparently,) and given to the public as characters of the Italians. If we may credit these impartial gentlemen, the Italians combine in their hearts almost every vice that can defile and degrade human nature. They are ignorant and vain, effeminate and cruel, cowardly and treacherous, false in their professions, knavish in their dealings, and hypocritical in their religion; so debauched as to live in promiscuous adultery, yet so jealous as to murder their rivals; so impious as

scarcely to believe in God, yet so bigotted as to burn all who reject their superstitions; void of all patriotism, yet proud of the glory of their ancestors: in short, wallowing in sensual indulgence, and utterly lost to all sense of virtue, honour, and improvement. Hence, is a scene of lewdness or debauchery to be introduced into a Romance? It is placed in an Italian convent. Is an assassin wanted to frighten ladies in the country, or to terrify a London mob on the stage? An Italian appears; a monk or a friar probably, with a dose of poison in one hand and a dagger in the other. Is a crime too great for utterance to be presented dimly to the imagination? It is half disclosed in an Italian confessional. In short, is some inhuman plot to be executed, or is religion to be employed as the means or instrument of lust or revenge? The scene is laid in Italy; the contrivers and the perpetrators are Italians; and to give it more diabolical effect, a convent or a church is the stage, and clergymen of some description or other, are the actors of the tragedy. These misrepresentations, absurd and ill-founded as they are, have been inserted in so many books of travels, and interwoven with so many popular tales, that they have at length biassed public opinion, and excited a distrust and an antipathy towards the Italian nation.

The authors of these Tales of Terror ought to recollect, that in amusing the imagination they are not allowed to pervert the judgment; and that, if it be a crime to defame an individual, it is aggravated guilt to slander a whole people. Yet this class of writers, who professedly deal in fiction, however they may undesignedly influence the public mind, appear innocent when compared with travellers who, while they pretend to adhere

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