[Letter VIII]

It is very rare at Rome to find a meeting of a few individuals which is not disturbed by a quarrel, often terminating with the coltellate.

At Florence, on the contrary, on occasion of their many ceremonies and public fêtes, frequently the largest crowds assemble peaceably: on the festival of the Assumption, especially, the inhabitants of Florence and its environs assemble early in the morning in the vast and delicious walks of the Casinos, on the borders of the Arno. There all ranks are mingled and confounded by pleasure: the day is passed in joy; the air resounds with songs, and with the sounds of the musical instruments which animate the steps of the dancers; and in the shade of the pines and chesnut-trees small parties seat themselves on the turf to enjoy a rural repast.

 The festival frequently extends far into the night, but there is not a single instance of a quarrel attended with bloodshed; and yet there are more than twenty thousand persons collected and enclosed in one place:—this made me love the Tuscans.