“Ideas of consideration and dignity are, I agree, less powerful and even less known in Italy than any where else:  the want of society and of public opinion is the cause of it:  but notwithstanding all that may be said of the perfidy of the Italians, I maintain that there is not a country in the world where more sincerity is to be found.  So far is this sincerity from being checked by vanity, that although that country be one of which foreigners speak most ill, there is no country where they meet with a more kindly reception.  The Italians are reproached with being too much inclined to flattery; but it must be allowed in their favour, that generally, they lavish their soft expressions, not from design, but a real desire to please; nor can it be alleged that these expressions are ever falsified by their conduct.  But it may be asked, would they be faithful to their friends in extraordinary circumstances, in which it might be necessary to brave for them the perils of adversity?  A very small number, I must own, would be capable of such friendship; but this observation will not apply to Italy alone.

“The Italians are remarkable for that lassitude which distinguishes the eastern nations; but there are no men more active and persevering when once their passions are excited.  These very women, too, whom you behold as indolent as the odalisks of a seraglio, upon some occasions give most striking proofs of attachment.  There is something mysterious in the character and the imagination of the Italians, in whom you will find by turns, either unexpected traits of generosity and friendship, or gloomy and formidable proofs of hatred and revenge.  They have no emulation, because life to them is only a pleasant summer’s dream; but give those men a purpose, and you will see them in six months, develop an unrivalled power of will and intelligence.  It is the same with women:  what ambition can they feel, to excel in education when the ignorance of the men renders them insensible to its value?  By cultivating their minds their hearts would become isolated; but these very women would soon become worthy a man of superior mind, if such a man were the object of their tender affection[21].

“Everything here sleeps:  but in a country where great interests are dead, repose and carelessness are more noble than a busy anxiety about trifling concerns.

“Even literature languishes in a country where thought is not renewed by the strong and varied action of life.—­But what nation has testified more admiration for literature and the fine arts than Italy?  We are informed by history, that the popes, the princes, and the people, have at all times paid to painters, poets, and distinguished writers, the most public homage.  This enthusiastic veneration of talent is I confess, my lord, one of the first motives of my attachment to this country.—­We do not find here that blasee imagination, that discouraging temper of mind, that despotic mediocrity,