Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/382

356 for the cleansing of our streets, being men of great power and influence, could not be compelled to disburse the money on its lawful objects." And, besides that, there was also the strange fact that certain parties feared that if the dirty straw and dung were swept away, every one would see how badly the pavement beneath was laid down; and so the dishonesty of a second body would be thereby exposed. "All this, however," he remarked, with a most humourous expression, "is merely the interpretation which the ill-disposed put upon it." For his part, he was of the opinion of those who maintained that the nobles preserved this soft litter for their carriages, in order that, when they take their drive for amusement in the evening, they might ride at ease over the elastic ground. And as the man was now in the humour, he joked away at many of the abuses of the police,—a consolatory proof to me that man has always humour enough to make merry with what he cannot help.

St. Rosalie, the patron saint of Palermo, is so universally known, from the description which Brydone has given of her festival, that it must assuredly be agreeable to my friends to read some account of the place and the spot where she is most particularly worshipped.

Monte Pellegrino, a vast mass of rocks of which the breadth is greater than the height, lies on the north-west extremity of the Bay of Palermo. Its beautiful form admits not of being described by words: a most excellent view of it may be seen in the "Voyage Pittoresque de la Sicile." It consists of a gray limestone of the earlier epoch. The rocks are quite barren; not a tree or a bush will grow on them: even the more smooth and level portions are but barely covered with grasses or mosses.

In a cavern of this mountain, the bones of the saint were discovered, at the beginning of the last century, and brought to Palermo. The presence of them