end of his career, scarcely excepting even the period of his confinement before he is led out to execution. Punch, in this respect, beats Macheath, as they used to say, "out of all cry;" but then the Captain, compared with Punch, is only a "petty-larceny villain," who is obliged to dose himself with brandy. Punch's confidence and presence of mind never desert him; and these qualities, combined with his personal but prudent courage, carry him through every difficulty, and enable him to triumph over every adversary. The great French satirist severely lashes those writers, who "make vice amiable."[1] and of this charge, we cannot acquit the author or authors of "Punch and Judy." In the person of the hero, and in the success of his criminal attempts, vice is most assuredly rendered too attractive, if we suppose that his example can have any effect upon those who witness his amusing performances.
Such is the character of Punch, as he is represented in this country, but in Italy he still preserves most of the qualities for which he was originally notorious. Baretti tells us, that his part is that of a "timid weak fellow, who is always thrashed by the other actors, and always boasts of victory after they are gone;"[2] and the author of a modern work, upon the manners and amusements of the Italians, thus speaks of the exhibitions in which Punch is engaged and of the figure he cuts in them.
"Two inferior theatres, La Fenice and San Carlino, both in the Largo del Castello, are chiefly devoted to farces and pantomimes. There you see Policinella in his genuine colours. Policinella is represented as a servant of Acerra,[3] a village in the neighbourhood of Naples, and he is so highly gifted by nature and accomplished by education, that he is at once a thief, a liar, a coward, a braggart, and a debauchee: still the facetious way in
