cry, and wringing her hands, as if she would
strip a coat of fire from them, she rushed
from the hall; and they saw her no more
for that day.

"It was," said Mr. Slade to Horace, when
they parted for the night; "too grave a
matter to trust to the post; so I posted off
by the same mail as that which brought my
packet. Confound those custom-house fellows
for detaining me; or I should have beaten
my own letter in the race by several hours."

WHAT A MAN MAY NOT DO IN THE
KINGDOM OF NAPLES.

As the life of a Neapolitan consists of
negations, I think it better to describe it by
what a man may not do, rather than by what
he may do; for were I to enter on the affirmative
phase of his existence, I should be reduced
to so small a compass, that I might as well
lay down my pen at once. Indeed, ever since
I first made the acquaintance of the Neapolitan
branch of the human family, it has
appeared to me to bear a strong resemblance to
a big boy with a sparrow-tailed coat still at
school. You may see the type of the whole
nation any day in the Toledo, in those
regiments of incipient priests and doctors with
heads surmounted by cocked-hats, who, with
a priest at its head and its tail, and two or
three seedy-looking lay ushers by the side,
parade the streets, by two and two, like
good boys as they are, to the vast edification
of all the old ladies. They present a correct
picture of the nation: for, thanks to a pious
and adorable sovereign—more father than
king— the whole community is flanked by
priests and confessors and spies, who are ever
carrying out the system of, You shan't do
that, sir! You mustn't do this! You shall
be punished, sir! Indeed, the prohibitions
are so countless, that woe be to the unhappy
wight whose star fixed his birth in the king-
dom of the Two Sicilies.

It would be difficult to know, how or
where to commence my history of
negations, were it not for a state paper which
now lies before me, and which contains
directions to the intendanti (lords-lieutenant)
for the regulation of the inferior authorities.
" You shall," says the solemn order,
"make a very precise and minute list of
those who wear hats of a strange fashion or
the entire beard . . . . In the column of
observations shall be inserted the date of the
beard, as also the particular shape of the hat,
and whether this be an old custom of the
country, or whether it be a novelty. . . .
You shall order them to be removed the
same day, and if not obeyed, you shall
proceed to the immediate arrest of such persons,
and send me the prisoner, together with a
procès verbale of the case." What's in a
hat ? some trifler may ask. King Bomba
thinks that there is a great deal, and fancies
that he can see treason, Muratism, Mazzinism,
and every other ism, crouching, like so
many devils, within the broad brim of a
wide-awake. The mortal fear of hats and
beards that his Majesty has, is so great, that
for many a month he has sent forth his
myrmidons to cut and slash, right and left,
in the public streets. Shops have been
vigilantly searched for obnoxious broad brims,
and a great destruction of property has
ensued. Policeman have gone their beats with
shears in their hands,and, more inexorable
than fate, have seized every wide-awake, and
cut away the excess of rim and large beard.
"Thou shalt not meddle with the foreigner,"
says the same state paper; but, when a
foreigner cannot get a wide-awake for love
or money in the streets of Naples, and is
compelled to wear a black one under a July
sun, the indulgence granted him appears to
me to be of a very doubtful character. Of
late, however, the objection has not been so
much to the shape as to the material of the
hat. It was found that a pliable article
might be made to assume any form, legal or
illegal, in a moment. If it were stiff, there
would be greater fixity about its form, and a
greater difficulty in changing it according
to the views of political cunning. Straightway
Denmark's royal brother, the Count
of Syracuse, led the fashion. This move was
as benevolent as it was necessary; for, it must
be confessed, that there is so much indefiniteness
about the words of the ministerial edict,
"hats of a strange fashion," that a book of
fashions, on blocks, as in a barber's shop, had
become quite necessary. What the next
change may be, and what other shape will
be shortly chosen to absorb political fury, no
one can tell. It may depend on some private
antipathy of the minister of police. Some
variety in his taste, or on the state of his
wardrobe; he may have a shocking bad hat,
and may form a sudden dislike for a new nap,
- who knows what will decide the next
move?- 'tis not for the subject to decide; he
must tremble and obey. Still it is not a
pleasant thing to be deprived of one's hat in
the centre of a crowded city. It is not pleasant
to be "bonneted," or to have a hat
carried off by the wind; but it is inexpressibly
disgusting when a Jack-in-office comes
upon you suddenly, and seizing it, cuts it in
pieces before your eyes. Yet this is a very
common occurrence.

Beards have been the subject of much
recent discussion; and if the authorities, in
adjudicating on these knotty questions, have
not always been very skilful, at least they
have been active. The subject has
presented many phases. Thus, the long beard
was first clipped, spite of its venerable
appearance; then, the moustache was
denounced; then, the beard under the chin was
regarded with suspicion,-- it was the emblem
of unity; then, the imperial or Napoleone, as
it is here called, was looked upon with a
jealous eye, for it savoured of Muratism;
and these two last are the forms which are at