DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62267#0329
THROUGH ITALY.
319
Dis.
the only one known or attended to by many tra-
vellers, and that even, not always very perfectly ;
general conclusions are too easily drawn from a
few instances; and appearances, scandalous to
us, because contrary to our established customs,
are sometimes too easily converted into proofs.
Of this latter kind is Cicisbeism or the well known
practice which authorizes ladies to employ an at-
tendant friend as their protector in public and
their confidant in private, who as he performs the
duties of the husband generally, is supposed
sometimes to usurp his privileges. This practice
is absurd, effeminate, contrary to the delicacy of
one sex and to the dignity of the other, and
therefore always reprehensible; and yet it is not
always criminal. On the contrary, sometimes
the Cicisbeo is a friend or a near relation, who
acts as the guardian of the honor of the husband,
and by his constant and watchful attendance is a
pledge and a security for the wife’s fidelity. There
are certain cities, and even in the most corrupt
cities, there are some families where the occupa-
tion of Cicisbeo is confined to this confidential in-
spection, which in such circumstances is never,
it is said, abused for the purposes of criminal in-
dulgence.
On the other hand, in certain other great
towns, the Cicisbeo enjoys all the rights of a bus-
319
Dis.
the only one known or attended to by many tra-
vellers, and that even, not always very perfectly ;
general conclusions are too easily drawn from a
few instances; and appearances, scandalous to
us, because contrary to our established customs,
are sometimes too easily converted into proofs.
Of this latter kind is Cicisbeism or the well known
practice which authorizes ladies to employ an at-
tendant friend as their protector in public and
their confidant in private, who as he performs the
duties of the husband generally, is supposed
sometimes to usurp his privileges. This practice
is absurd, effeminate, contrary to the delicacy of
one sex and to the dignity of the other, and
therefore always reprehensible; and yet it is not
always criminal. On the contrary, sometimes
the Cicisbeo is a friend or a near relation, who
acts as the guardian of the honor of the husband,
and by his constant and watchful attendance is a
pledge and a security for the wife’s fidelity. There
are certain cities, and even in the most corrupt
cities, there are some families where the occupa-
tion of Cicisbeo is confined to this confidential in-
spection, which in such circumstances is never,
it is said, abused for the purposes of criminal in-
dulgence.
On the other hand, in certain other great
towns, the Cicisbeo enjoys all the rights of a bus-