Here lies the reason why men were willing to wait so long for their
revenge. A 'bella vendetta' demanded as a rule a combination of
circumstances for which it was necessary to wait patiently. The gradual
ripening of such opportunities is described by the novelists with
heartfelt delight.
There is no need to discuss the morality of actions in which plaintiff
and judge are one and the same person. If this Italian thirst for
vengeance is to be palliated at all, it must be by proving the
existence of a corresponding national virtue, namely gratitude. The
same force of imagination which retains and magnifies wrong once
suffered, might be expected also to keep alive the memory of kindness
received. It is not possible, however, to prove this with regard to the
nation as a whole, though traces of it may be seen in the Italian
character of today. The gratitude shown by the inferior classes for
kind treatment, and the good memory of the upper for politeness in
social life, are instances of this.
This connexion between the imagination and the moral qualities of the
Italian repeats itself continually. If, nevertheless, we find more cold
calculation in cases where the Northerner rather follows his impulses,
the reason is that individual development in Italy was not only more
marked and earlier in point of time, but also far more frequent.
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