Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . lady. 6. •it Of i MILAN. 97 pulse of life begins to beat quicker in Milan also; and then a phenomenon, which we havescarcely named hitherto, but which is of high importance in Italy,—I mean the Theatre,—presses itself on our attention. It must be owned that people do not so much go thitherwith an idea of seriously enjoying art, as attracted by the excitement of a crowd; but how-ever this may be, actors and singers are an indispensable element among these people. Andthe artists themselves are more sensitive to this fact, than to the supercilious ind
Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . lady. 6. •it Of i MILAN. 97 pulse of life begins to beat quicker in Milan also; and then a phenomenon, which we havescarcely named hitherto, but which is of high importance in Italy,—I mean the Theatre,—presses itself on our attention. It must be owned that people do not so much go thitherwith an idea of seriously enjoying art, as attracted by the excitement of a crowd; but how-ever this may be, actors and singers are an indispensable element among these people. Andthe artists themselves are more sensitive to this fact, than to the supercilious indifference. LAKE OF COMO. VIEW OF MALGRATE FROM LECCO. with which the public chatters throughout their performances ; they do not place theirpride in being attentively listened to, but in the consciousness that the public cannot dowithout them. During the time when Venice was the only city excluded from UnitedItaly, her chief theatre, La Fenice, was closed and silent; and this circumstance wasthe most eloquent possible protest against the state of things then prevailing. This senseof their own importance runs through all circles of the Italian stage, and the meanestsupernumerary shares it with the first artists. I shall never forget once meeting with acouple of singular-looking figures in the railway station of a small town ; they werepromenading up and down the platform attracting much curious attention by theirpantomimic gestures. The mans garments were ragged and squalid, but those of hiswife were still more so, and her grey hair, unacquainted with the comb, fell in tangledlocks about her fore
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