K.K.

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MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.

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THE GENOESE.[1]

(For the Mirror.)

[1] The intelligent friend from whose conversation the writer gleaned the following account, has resided three years in Genoa, and therefore is fully competent to speak of the customs of its inhabitants.  This paper is derived from the same source as that entitled “A Recent Visit to Pompeii.”—­Vide mirror, vol xiii p. 276.

The Genoese women, are almost without exception beautiful, and many of them retain their loveliness for a longer period than is usual in warm climates; I have seen very handsome females turned of forty.  They are excessively fond of adorning themselves on Sundays and all festive occasions, with a profusion of rich and expensive gold ornaments; indeed the married women cannot be seen without them, for they are an essential part of their hymeneal dower.  A young woman, upon the occasion of her nuptials, is obliged to purchase a set of gold trinkets, should the existence of her mother prevent her inheriting those which are already in the family; and in order to make this important purchase, no small property is required, since as much as three or four hundred francs are often given for a pair of ear-rings, seven or eight hundred for a necklace, chain, bracelets, or other articles individually; a few more trifling ornaments complete the set, with a curious kind of gold filagree cap, or net, for the head.  These trinkets are in fact necessary adjutants to Genoese domestic economy, since, though as heir-looms they are never sold, except three or four sets should, from family casualties, become the property of an individual, yet there is neither law nor prejudice against pawning them; and, in pawn they generally are, from the week’s commencement to its end, being redeemed on the Saturday night, only to be worn on Sunday, and pledged again on the Monday morning.  There are shops in Genoa expressly for the sale of these bridal ornaments, which are worn there, exclusively by the inferior classes; for the higher orders of society if seen in such, would forfeit, whether foreigners or citizens, all pretentions to rank and fashion; however, the Genoese gold trinkets, may be, and are, much worn by the Hidalgos of many a place afar from that of their manufacture.  These ornaments are not wrought into more than four fashions, which never vary.  The Genoese women marry at fifteen or sixteen years of age, and it is impossible to imagine a creature more innocent, childish-looking, and perfectly beautiful, than a young bride in her nuptial attire.