The Scala is the evening home of almost all ranks, the recreation of the tradesman, the exchange of the merchant, the closet of the critic, and the rendezvous of the politician. For there alone, amidst the openest publicity, can privacy find an asylum against the intrusions of espionage. The box is sacred—none can intrude there but the intimate friends of the lady or her husband; and the numerous "arie di sorbetta" [dull pieces of music, which solicit absence, and remind the auditor of ices and refreshments] call for no attention even from musical enthusiasm; while with their accompaniments they drown the whispered conversation, whatever may be its tendency.