Page:The Kaleidoscope; Or, Literary and Scientific Mirror (1824-03-23; Vol 4 Iss 195).djvu/2

Rh would hardly be thought fit for the use of a broker’s clerk at Paris; in the commerce of Turin, luxury and bankruptcies are alike unknown. You will see a crowd of men who call themselves lawyers; but this is merely a title assumed by such as are neither noblemen nor tradesmen. As for me, I am on equally good terms with the nobles and with the lawyers, because, as I came into this country when it was first under the French administration, I took care to make myself useful to all. The only thing to be regretted in this country is the indolence to which the youth are condemned. The children of all the first families loiter away their lives, seated on benches at the outside of coffee-houses, or playing in the inside at a game called barziga. The young ladies, brought up in seclusion, are never allowed to appear in the world. When they are married, being no longer under any restraint, their virtue is entirely in their own hands, though their husbands are as jealous as the Sicilians; but, all things considered, no town in Italy is more remarkable for the morality of its inhabitants than Turin. The Piedmontese were, under the ancient kings of Sardinia, the best-governed people in the world. Their government was truly patriarchal. The meanest peasant in Turin had free access to the King, and received justice at his hands: but no one knew what administration was; and the custom of paying people in office was so little known that the principal officers had no fixed salaries, and depended entirely on the fees they got.” “Whence comes it, then, that so many of the nobility are now attached to the French Government, and fill the offices of Chamberlain, and Master of the Horse, to the Emperor or Prince?” “How can it be otherwise? The people are accustomed to a court and cannot do without one; the person of the Prince is in general beloved, and the circumstance of his being a native of the country renders him more fit to govern it, although he affects never to speak a word of Italian. Among the nobles, I could mention several who did not accept the situations which they fill, without first writing to Cagliari, to ask the consent of the King of Sardinia. I can easily believe that their attachment to France is not very sincere, and it must be allowed that it is hard enough to see Frenchmen, who arrived here pennyless in the suite of General Menou, now driving their carriages, and looking down upon the natives with all the arrogance of superiority. You will see every one on Monday evening; for, if I am not mistaken, there will be a supper as well as a ball.”—“When Napoleon came hither, how was he received?”—“He was received as all men are who know the characters of those they have to deal with; he flattered the prejudices of the country; he declared that the Piedmontese soldiers and these of la Bretagne were the best in his army. When he entered the opera-house, which you cannot have seen, because it is open only during the Carnaval,—‘It has only one fault,’ said he—that is, that it is not at Paris.’ In the evening, the opera-house was converted into a ball-room, being most magnificently lighted with wax, and decorated in the most splendid manner. He took care that the ball should be opened by a montferrine, the dance of the country. I must tell you an anecdote of this ball. As Mademoiselle Alessi was dancing by the side of Napoleon, she happened to tread upon his foot. “You compel me to retreat Mademoiselle,” said he, stepping backward. “It is then for the first time,” she replied. Nothing else was talked of all evening but the ready answer of Mademoiselle Alessi, and it was remarked that she appeared much out of spirits the day after the ball. Meanwhile we had finished our dinner, and I, for the first time since my arrival at Turin, drank a cup of good coffee, which I owed entirely to the circumstance of its having been made for my hump-backed friend. When I wished to ask for the bill, “We will each of us pay half,” said he; “but permit me to ask for the bill instead of you, and we shall, by that means, be charged one-half less.” I was, in fact, surprised at the moderate charge made for so excellent a dinner, and gratitude requires me here to pay my just tribute of praise to the excellent white truffles of Piedmont, which were far superior to those so much boasted by Perigord.

Before we took leave of each other we made an appointment to meet that day week, at six in the morning, on leaving the hall, and to make two excursions extra muros; one to see the church of Superga, and the other to visit the country palace of Stupinis.

Liverpool. 



Chapter 12th.—An accident.—Having cut his boots to pieces, Jeremiah was obliged to set off in shoes and silk stockings; and he did this with so much expedition that Jupiter was unable to follow. Enraged at so unusual a behaviour, the animal began to make such a noise that the rider was obliged to slacken his pace to avoid a fresh uproar. The journey was, therefore, continued very peaceably; and, after a little while, the Princess was actually discovered, in an open landau, with another lady and a gentleman. The heart of our hero began to beat with anxiety, for he had but a confused recollection of what had happened at supper, and he was anxious to know the extent of the mischief. He mustered up all the powers of his mind, in order to begin a neat speech; but the company in the carriage had no sooner perceived him, than their faces were turned, with marked displeasure, to the opposite side of the road, as if to avoid every communication; whilst Mr. De Pilson and his friends passed by in full gallop. A newly-painted turnpike alarmed, at the same time, the luckless adventurer’s horse; and, in his endeavours to pass, he got entangled with an old soldier’s wife, who had been fetching a fresh stock of brandy and other commodities, which the horse kicked into the mire. The virago attacked, thereupon, the traveller with such fury, and kept such fast hold of his coat, that Jupiter was obliged to tear it to pieces before he could free his master. The woman was, of course, indemnified beyond her demand, and the horse was led by the bridle; but it was a grievous thing, that the Princess and all the rest should have witnessed the scene—and yet that was the melancholy truth; for the cries of the Amazon had been heard at a great distance, and the whole party had stopped to see the issue of the contest. Jeremiah was more anxious than ever to come to an explanation, and to clear himself of the ridicule to which this new affair must have exposed him. He was determined to risk every thing for a tête-a-tête; but, for the present he could do nothing but return.

Chapter 13''th. Fresh accidents.''—Except the attention which was attracted to Jeremiah by his torn coat, he met with no disagreeable occurrence on his way home. A billet had been left at the Fox, with the following contents: “Excuse, if you can, the neglect you met with this morning, and be more punctual in the evening. I shall be at the play; and I will endeavour to get rid of my companions.”

This was glorious news; but there came also a messenger of evil in the shape of an attorney, who called on the part of Mrs. Liquorice, in order to obtain a final answer to her claims, and to insist upon Jeremiah’s declaring, in a legal manner, whether he intended to fulfil her just expectations, or to let the law have its course?

The student laughed in the ambassador’s face; but the latter continued very seriously and coolly. He said that his client could not have dreamt all the circumstances which she had stated, and that the giving up of her late husband’s marriage-shirt was in itself a proof of her having received positive declarations from its present wearer. At the same time, the gentleman presented a bill of the incurred expenses; stating, that no further mention should be made of the latter, in case of an accommodation on the main point. To avoid juridical interference, Mr. Schnackenberger declared, in his turn, that he would pay the enormous charges without dispute, if the hostess would sign a promise of resigning all other claims. The solicitor went to make the proposal; and the landlord of the Fox, who had been consulted on the occasion, gave it as his decided opinion, that it was by far the best way to get out of the scrape; and that his guest might think himself well off if the affair ended there; for nobody could come near the Sow without becoming a sufferer. The often-mentioned surtout had been sent back by a servant, who received in return the borrowed coat, and was commanded to give the best respects of the revived adventurer, including a delicate allusion to the next meeting; whilst an experienced taylor undertook the necessary reparation of his outward appearance.

Chapter 14th and 15''th. A fur great coat, and its effects.''—The knight of the thimble was not as good as his word; for, instead of bringing home the coat, he went to the play himself, without caring for Mr. ShnackenbergerSchnackenberger [sic], who was now worse off than ever. The landlord and the principal waiters were likewise gone, and a poor, snivelling, little fellow, who kindly offered his Sunday-rigging, could not render him the service he wished; because the clothes were far too narrow and short. At last the waiter recollected a dealer in second-hand clothes, and set off for his dwelling; but he soon returned with the melancholy news that the man had gone to a neighbouring fair, and had left nothing at home but a huge fur great coat, for which he could not expect to find a customer at the present time of the year. “Never mind,” cried Jeremiah; “fetch me the fur coat, and I will wear it. It is impossible to struggle against fate.” The waiter represented, in vain, how the people would stare: he was despatched for the article, to which a round hat was added, in order to render the incognito more complete. For the same reason, it was also resolved that Jupiter should stay behind; and means were taken to secure him effectually.

The heat was most oppressive on that day, and the play-house likely to become very full; the people there assembled could, therefore, hardly believe their eyes, when they saw a man enter, who was dressed in an unusually heavy great coat, and who had drawn his hat over both ears, as if afraid of catching cold. The bench on which the figure had sat down was immediately evacuated, and so were other places in the neighbourhood; for the general idea was, that the creature had escaped from a mad-house, and its great bulk gave it a most formidable appearance. At last the manager ventured to address it, urged by the fear that his profits might be lessened, or the play disturbed through this circumstance. The cries of “turn him out” became at the same time pretty general, when suddenly three soldiers appeared to arrest the individual, by order of the police. Mr. Schnackenberger made no resistance, but felt rather relieved; because he hoped to find the means of providing himself with a more suitable dress which would enable him to return forthwith, and to appear with more advantage. He doubted not a moment of his being able to arrange every thing to his satisfaction as soon as he should state the case, such as it was; and he was not a little surprised at his been hurried along, among a noisy crowd of idlers, and conducted straight forward to the town’s prison, the door of which was turned and locked upon him before he could enter into any explanation. The jailor told him, for his greater comfort, that he would not be examined in a hurry, because the magistrate was better engaged for the evening, and the next day would be a holy-day, on which there was no court held. Jeremiah was very near knocking the man down; but he just recollected in time that this would not mend the matter.

Chapter 16''th. Escape from Prison.''—A fine moonlight night made confinement more irksome, and the prisoner shook in his rage the iron-bars of the window, when, to his great astonishment, they gave way, and remained in his hand. Apparently, one of his predecessors in the cell had thus prepared the way without having time to take advantage of his dexterity. Jeremiah hesitated not an