blers on their
moveable stages, still in our fairs, are Roman; the disorders of the
_Bacchanalia_, Italy appears to imitate in her Carnivals. Among these
Roman diversions certain comic characters have been transmitted to us,
along with some of their characteristics, and their dresses. The
speaking Pantomimes and Extemporal Comedies which have delighted the
Italians for many centuries, are from this ancient source.

Rich, in his "Companion to the Latin Dictionary," has an excellent
illustration of this passage:--"This Art was of very great antiquity,
and much practiced by the Greeks and Romans, both on the stage and in
the tribune, induced by their habit of addressing large assemblies in
the open air, where it would have been impossible for the majority to
comprehend what was said without the assistance of some conventional
signs, which enabled the speaker to address himself to the eye, as well
as the ear of the audience. These were chiefly made by certain positions
of the hands and fingers, the meaning of which was universally
recognised and familiar to all classes, and the practice itself reduced
to a regular system, as it remains at the present time amongst the
populace of Naples, who will carry on a long conversation between
themselves by mere gesticulation, and without pronouncing a word." That
many of these signs are similar to those used by the Ancients, is proved
by the same author, who copies from an antique vase a scene which he
explains by the action of the hands of the figures, adding, "A common
lazzaroni, when shown one of these compositions, will at once explain
the purport of the action, which a scholar with all his learning cannot
divine." The gesture to signify love, employed by the Ancients and
modern Neapolitans, was joining the tips of the thumb and forefinger of
the left hand; an imputation or asseveration by holding forth the right
hand; a denial by raising the same hand, extending the fingers. In
mediaeval works of art, a particular attitude of the fingers is adopted
to exhibit malicious hate: it is done by crossing the forefinger of each
hand, and is generally seen in figures of Herod or Judas Iscariot.

Down to the fifteenth century there is not much known of the family of
Harlequin, with the exception, perhaps, that the name Zany became more
widely distributed into such as Drolls, Clowns, Pantaloons, Punches,
Scaramouches, and the like. In the Italian Comedy, of purely native
growth, the origin