Venice.
Though the Venetian Government is still under the influence of
jealousy, that gloomy Dæmon is now entirely banished from the bosoms of
individuals. Instead of the confinement in which women were formerly kept
at Venice, they now enjoy a degree of freedom unknown even at Paris. Of
the two extremes, the present, without doubt, is the preferable.
The husbands seem at last convinced, that the chastity of their wives
is safest under their own guardianship, and that when a woman thinks
her honour not worth her own regard, it is still more unworthy of his.
This advantage, with many others, must arise from the present system;
that when a husband believes that his wife has faithfully adhered to her
conjugal engagement, he has the additional satisfaction of knowing,
that she acts from a love to him, or some honourable motive; whereas,
formerly, a Venetian husband could not be certain that he was not
obliged, for his wife’s chastity, to iron bars, bolts, and padlocks.
Could any man imagine, that a woman, whose chastity was preserved by such
means only, was, in fact, more respectable than a common prostitute? The
old plan of distrust and confinement, without even securing what was
its object, must have had a strong tendency to debase the minds of both
the husband and the wife; for what man, whose mind was not perfectly
abject, could have pleasure in the society of a wife, who, to his own
conviction, languished to be in the arms of another man? Of all the
humble employments that ever the wretched sons of Adam submitted to,
surely that of watching a wife from morning to night, and all night too,
is the most perfectly humiliating. Such ungenerous distrust must also
have had the worst effect on the minds of the women; made them view their
gaolers with disgust and horror; and we ought not to be much surprised
if some preferred the common gondoleers of the lakes, and the vagrants
of the streets, to such husbands. Along with jealousy, _poison_ and the
_stiletto_ have been banished from Venetian gallantry, and the innocent
mask is substituted in their places. According to the best information
I have received, this same mask is a much more innocent matter than is
generally imagined. In general it is not intended to conceal the person
who wears it, but only used as an apology for his not being in full
dress. With a mask stuck in the hat, and a kind of black mantle, trimmed
with lace of the same colour, over the shoulders, a man is sufficiently
dressed for any assembly at Venice.
Those who walk the streets, or go to the playhouses with masks actually
covering their faces, are either engaged in some love intrigue, or would
have the spectators think so; for this is a piece of affectation which
prevails here, as well as elsewhere; and I have been assured, by those
who have resided many years at Venice, that _refined_ gentlemen, who
are fond of the reputation, though they shrink from the catastrophe, of
an intrigue, are no uncommon characters here; and I believe it the more
readily, because I daily see many feeble gentlemen tottering about in
masks, for whom a bason of warm restorative soup seems more expedient
than the most beautiful woman in Venice.
One evening at St. Mark’s Place, when a gentleman of my acquaintance
was giving an account of this curious piece of affectation, he desired
me to take notice of a Venetian nobleman of his acquaintance, who, with
an air of mystery, was conducting a female mask into his Cassino. My
acquaintance knew him perfectly well, and assured me, he was the most
innocent creature with women he had ever been acquainted with. When this
gallant person perceived that we were looking at him, his mask fell to
the ground, as if by accident; and after we had got a complete view of
his countenance, he put it on with much hurry, and immediately rushed,
with his partner, into the Cassino.
Fugit ad salices, sed se cupit ante videri.
You have heard, no doubt, of those little apartments, near St. Mark’s
Place, called Cassinos. They have the misfortune to labour under a very
bad reputation; they are accused of being temples entirely consecrated
to lawless love, and a thousand scandalous tales are told to strangers
concerning them. Those tales are certainly not believed by the Venetians
themselves, the proof of which is, that the Cassinos are allowed to
exist; for I hold it perfectly absurd to imagine, that men would suffer
their wives to enter such places, if they were not convinced that those
stories were ill-founded; nor can I believe, after all we have heard
of the profligacy of Venetian manners, that women, even of indifferent
reputations, would attend Cassinos in the open manner they do, if it were
understood that more liberties were taken with them there than elsewhere.
The opening before St. Mark’s church is the only place in Venice where
a great number of people can assemble. It is the fashion to walk here a
great part of the evening, to enjoy the music, and other amusements; and
although there are coffee-houses, and Venetian manners permit ladies,
as well as gentlemen, to frequent them, yet it was natural for the
noble and most wealthy to prefer little apartments of their own, where,
without being exposed to intrusion, they may entertain a few friends in a
more easy and unceremonious manner than they could do at their palaces.
Instead of going home to a formal supper, and returning afterwards to
this place of amusement, they order coffee, lemonade, fruit, and other
refreshments, to the Cassino.
That those little apartments may be occasionally used for the purposes
of intrigue, is not improbable; but that this is the ordinary and avowed
purpose for which they are frequented is, of all things, the least
credible.
Some writers who have described the manners of the Venetians, as more
profligate than those of other nations, assert at the same time, that
the Government encourages this profligacy, to relax and dissipate the
minds of the people, and prevent their planning, or attempting, any
thing against the constitution. Were this the case, it could not be
denied, that the Venetian legislators display their patriotism in a
very extraordinary manner, and have fallen upon as extraordinary means
of rendering their people good subjects. They first erect a despotic
court to guard the public liberty, and next they corrupt the morals
of the people, to keep them from plotting against the State. This last
piece of refinement, however, is no more than a conjecture of some
theoretical politicians, who are apt to take facts for granted, without
sufficient proof, and afterwards display their ingenuity in accounting
for them. That the Venetians are more given to sensual pleasures than
the inhabitants of London, Paris, or Berlin, I imagine will be difficult
to prove; but as the State Inquisitors do not think proper, and the
ecclesiastical are not allowed, to interfere in affairs of gallantry; as
a great number of strangers assemble twice or thrice a year at Venice,
merely for the sake of amusement; and, above all, as it is the custom to
go about in masks, an idea prevails, that the manners are more licentious
here than elsewhere. I have had occasion to observe, that this custom
of wearing a mask, by conveying the ideas of concealment and intrigue,
has contributed greatly to give some people an impression of Venetian
profligacy. But, for my own part, it is not a piece of white or black
paper, with distorted features, that I suspect, having often found the
most complete worthlessness concealed under a smooth smiling piece of
human skin.