aged man is, to present his _Sposina_
every morning up to the period of their union, with a fresh bouquet, the
size of which intimates the degree of affection and respect that he
entertains for her. But should the lover's finances be slender, and his
nuptials long delayed, he must find this elegant custom a very ruinous
one, since the price of the best of these bouquets (and who durst for
his own credit's sake present an inferior one?) is five or six francs.
The _Sposina_ appears everywhere and everyday with a bouquet in her
hand, closely attended by her lover, and either or both of her parents;
and a female, a stranger in Genoa, commits a breach of etiquette by
walking through the streets carrying a nosegay, besides subjecting
herself to the impertinence of a thousand eyes, that ask, "_Are you_ a
_Sposina_?" The wedding is celebrated with splendour, the fortune of the
bride being sometimes expended in purchasing a magnificent dress, which
is then deemed essential. Amongst the highest classes, the English
custom of the bride and bridegroom quitting the wedding party
immediately after the performance of the marriage-ceremony, for a tour,
has commenced; but this innovation upon their established national
manners, has not yet obtained a very general footing. The _match-maker_
is, upon the wedding-day, presented with a sum of money adequate to the
trouble she has taken to effect the alliance; for a lack of beauty, or
fortune on the lady's side, mars her matrimonial prospects, and causes
as great difficulties respecting her settlement in life, at Genoa, as in
some other places I could mention rather nearer home. Once, being in
company with an ancient dame, who had brought about a marriage that
astonished all Genoa, she informed me, that she received as her
_douceur_ upon the occasion, 50_l_. This, I am to conclude, was a
liberal recompense; for the _Sposina_, in that instance, was so plain,
(a circumstance unusual with the Genoese women,) and afflicted with so
bad a breath, as to be an object of disgust with all the men who heard
of her. The _bouquets_ which I have mentioned, are peculiar in
structure, and beautiful in appearance: they are composed of the most
brilliantly coloured flowers, disposed round a large central flower, in
tiers, or rows, of the same colour; as, first perhaps, a row of red,
then white, then purple, then yellow, then blue, &c. &c.; the stalks are
cut short, curiously attached to wire by fine silk or thr