T RAV

THE TWO ORDEltS OP PENITEN5.'~~Iltcpians06 in,ternal navigation, the (')nly national itnprovement ade;.quate to the grand scale in contemplation; but little has resulted fromthem to this day.The éclat of a paltry conquest is a more vivid gratificationto the human mind than the fertilizing a province. ' The turuingthe tloods of the Alps, upon these barren levels would introduèepopulation,whichever fonowswaler"c~rriage;and, 1Vhere hands weretobe found, agticulture, without which dry wastes are'Dot be redeemed,:êould be put in practice.At this present period, there being little to engage puhlic attention,.and time probably hanging heavy on hand, the two divisions of peniteDtsbere,pénite1ls blancs and noirs, had commenced a bellum interne...·ci-aum ;.a.nd employed the wartn days of summer in bestowing on eachothers backs,that discipline which, by the fuIes of their order, eachindividual is bound to intlict upon his own.Pénitens, it may be necéssaryto inform sorne readers, for the simple term i8 not \:ery accuratelyapplicable, or consequently descriptive" are persons. who, inreligious processions and some other ceremonies, go disguised in longgarmentsand highconical caps, which mask the face, the eyes only appearing;the,., moreover, onrequisite occasions, carry lighted tapers intheirhanàs, and perform.various duties of similar import.They aredivided iuto orders,which are distinguished by colours; a convenientmode Oflllllpplying mankind with something 10 quarrel about, whereihere exists nothing tô conlend 60r. Whatever was the irnportant causeof the present,warfare, ~ertain it is th~t,in the prosecution of it, thesemaskers laidasideaU disguise, ,and exhibited themsçIves in their truecolours; andif they dia nc::>timpart to tlle tc::>wn that vivacity it wants,theyso far.succeeded as to disturb its siumbers.When flagellation was in fashion in the world (where it at present'S~sratheron the decline), it was the custom for loyers ta avail tbem"..