Edward Henry Michelsen

“ I do not allude here to the indigent old, infirm, lame, blind, sick, and cripples, who are met with in all countries of Europe, but solely to the idle vagabonds who prefer begging to working, because it is more easy and convenient, and to those who try to enforce their presumptive claim, not from want or necessity, but from sheer homage to the popular custom. ”

“ Go on, poor pillaver, the road is hard under your feet, but Jesus does not judge after the manner of men; and if you are honest and a good Christian, you will be rewarded for your pain and toil, and awake in glory. ”

“ Even their common almanac (Takvim) shows how widely the Turks still differ from us in their views and notions of even common life relations, and no wonder that the Turkish astronomers direct their attention chiefly to the gratification of the popular taste in the daily wants, wishes, dealings, and requirements of practical life generally. The Takvim is thus the household book of the common people, and embraces all sorts of moral, social, religious, and even sanitary precepts, in a national point of view. ”

“ On arriving at some of the villages which have acquired a name amongst the tourists for some architectural beauty or fine scenery, the whole population, men, women, and children, and even able-bodied and good-looking people, are out begging. They surround the unfortunate traveller in large numbers, each and all putting forth their hands for alms, and do not stir from the spot, despite all the “andante al diavolos” he may tell them, until he has complied with their demand. ”

“ The Russian as a Shopkeeper.—Trade is the proper element of the Russian; it is his favourite pursuit, and should his trade even be confined to hazel nuts, he will devote his time and energy to it, with the same zeal as if he were engaged in commerce on a large scale. He is indefatigable in displaying all his goods before his customers, and is never offended even at the lowest offer. ”

“ At the port of Leghorn, I found at every street corner a number of beggars with a sort of money-box in hand, which they continually rattled, and accosted the passers-by with the usual “Povero infelice, Signor!” I perceived by the sound, that each of the boxes only contained one single copper coin, the remainder having no doubt been taken out and pocketed as soon as they were thrown in. ”

“ He finds in the country neither relations nor friends, and at his approach the doors are closed, for the pillaver is a man without faith.
On Sundays and holidays he is always on the road; he never hears mass nor service. ”

“ At the commencement of an epidemic all, and during its continuance nearly all, its victims, are among the destitute and imperfectly nourished. Like typhus, and unlike typhoid fever, it is contagious under certain conditions. It does not spread readily by slight and casual contact with the infected, but is freely communicated when the contact with or contiguity to the sick is prolonged and takes place in confined rooms. Relapsing fever sets in abruptly and violently. ”

“ But among all these public diversions, none was more distinguished for singularity and originality, and perhaps childish simplicity, than the procession of lads and boys on sticks or cockhorses. Thus mounted they rode, regularly divided into companies, through the streets, and halted before the hotel of the Red-Horse, where was staying the Imperial Commissioner Octavius Piccolomini, Duc d’Amali. ”

“ The Congress at Rhinocorura.—Epiphanius, the Greek father of the church, the same who forbade the reading of the writings of the far-famed Origenes, states (in his “Panarion Hæresium, 83”) , that the first congress held about the division of the world was at Rhinocorura, where the three sons of Noah met, and divided amongst themselves all the countries of the globe, and which political act Noah afterwards confirmed in his will. ”

“ But even in the huts where a few rags are sold to him he is received with contempt and abhorrence, and is seldom allowed to advance as far as the fire-place. The rags are brought to him to the threshold, where the bargain is made. His honesty is so distrusted that even the poorest of the poor fear his thieving craft ”

“ Leaving his basket in their hands, Angelo made his way to the salons, and, passing from room to room, he took a rapid survey of the various paintings, but remained fixed with admiration before the yet unfinished “Galatea.” Observing an empty spot in the centre of the picture, he took up a piece of charcoal, mounted the scaffold, and drew in the vacant space a colossal head of Jupiter. ”

“ As the sun always sets at twelve, the hour for evening prayers remains unchanged; but it varies with that of sunrise, which is not always the same!
The last part, Miscellaneous, contains things that are to be done on certain days in the month. ”

“ There is no class which suffers so much from typhoid fever as domestic servants, a circumstance which may be explained by the fact of their living and sleeping apartments being so often in the basement of houses, proximity to the sink holes and crevices, whence emanate the sewer gases. They must, therefore, oftener breathe the poisonous gases in a less diluted form than other members of the same household. Cowkeepers and others exposed to concentrated exhalations from excrementitious matter are peculiarly liable to typhoid fever. ”

“ Michel Angelo was aware of the fact, and his excitable and haughty temper often betrayed him into malicious tricks against Raphael. When the villa paintings were in course of rapid progress, nothing else was then talked of at Rome. Some spoke with enthusiasm of the “Banquet of the Gods and the Union of Psyche;” others were inexhaustible in praise of the beautiful “Galatea,” while each and all expressed a desire and curiosity to know what Angelo would say of them. ”

“ The children, of all ages, constitute by far the largest portion of that community, and it is these juvenile beggars in particular that prove a perfect nuisance and try the patience of the most patient traveller in Italy. At every place where he stops, either to enjoy the beauties of Nature or of art, he is sure to be surrounded by a swarm of these juveniles, who pursue their object with a perseverance worthy of a better cause. ”

“ There seems to prevail a traditional belief among the Italians, that all strangers who arrive at their shores are travellers par excellence, come in search of the pleasures and enjoyments peculiar to their country, and that the natives have consequently a just claim upon their generosity, if not even a prescriptive right to levy a tax upon them in the shape of alms and charity. ”

“ Use all possible means to prevent people crowding together in filthy ill-aired houses, and so prevent typhus; give protection from sewage gases, and so prevent typhoid fever; and lastly, in times of scarcity and destitution, give timely succour, and so prevent the poor from falling under the relapsing fever. ”

“ The various laws which were frequently enacted in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to check drunkenness, or, at least, immoderate drinking of wine and spirits, proved utterly abortive, owing to the social life of the middle ages, which was chiefly based upon quaffing. ”

“ Sewers may be good; but if they are ventilated into the houses, in place of external to them, they become the most pestiferous agencies which can be imagined. Moreover, all drains are liable to go wrong, and all of them, therefore, require frequent inspection by experienced persons. ”

“ The rough picture I have drawn above of the character and conduct of the beggars is, however, frequently softened by some mild and humane traits in the character of some of the younger generation. I was sitting before a café at Genoa, leisurely sipping my cup of coffee (the Italians can drink that beverage at any hour in the day) , when a cripple, quite a child, approached my table for some alms ”

“ Unfortunately, the inspectors of nuisances appointed by the rate-payers are very often not competent. They are generally tradesmen who have failed or are failing in business, who by favour of some parochial coterie manage to be placed in office. ”

“ The thorough application of these preventives requires a better system of sanitary police than we possess, and a higher grade of officers to carry out the administrative details. The supervision of dwellings must be made stringent and general, in respect of number of occupants, ventilation, cleanliness, and sewage gases. ”