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,^ ' W A-^,8. T85Q.1 THE MABEE. 435
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N Street View Of Italy.—No. Iv. J Pajpaj...
are wont to preface great changes and revolutions . We have often wished that the prophecy had been as explicit as it was correct . We should much like to know what those symptoms were on which that cynic Solomon founded his diagnosis . We presume , however , that , mutatis mutandis ,, the symptoms of a nation ' s . dissolution must be much the same as that of an individual s bankruptcy . When customers begin to tall ott . and bankers to look coldly—when clerks wages are over clue and the office rent is m arrearswhen creditors call and are put off from day to day—when cheques are returned and no business is done , and the books are no longer posted , you may conclude , without much danger of error , that the end of that house or business is at hand . From the moment we entered the Papal State to the hour we ldf t . it , this sort of premonitory foretaste of bankruptcy weighed upon us . There was bankruptcy in the half-cultivated fieldbankruptcy in the tunible-down towns—bankruptcy in the , ragged garbs and careworn faces of the people—bankruptcy in the very air you breathe . The road from Siena to Rome is , at the best of times , a dismal one . It is one of the chief , if not the most important , of the Papal post routes ,
traversed yearly by thousands of wealthy travellers . There is every inducement for that moderate amount of enterprise and speculation which the presence of travellers produces elsewhere , even in the most stationary countries ; but the dull , stagnant oppression of Roman misgovernment overpowers all symptoms of life and energy . The road , which , like all the highways of Italy , owes its existence to the rule of the first Napoleon , is good enough in an engineering point of view , but falling into decay from long neglect , and want of ' repair . The inns are a sort of cross-breed between a hovel and a barrack , combining the native dirt of an Italian Albergo ¦ with the discomfort of a G-erman Wirth ' s Haus
and the exorbitant charges of a Gei main-street hotel . The whole country is bare and dreary . The peasants , whom you meet at rare intervals , have a sort of bandit look ; and all alike beg , with a sort of scowl by no means exhilarating to a nervous traveller . Ever and anon you pass by some roadside heap of stones , where the wooden cross on the summit of the pile warns you that oil the spot you are treading , some scene of murder and bloodshed occurred , not too long ago for the cross to have fallen into pieces . From time to time , too , a patrol of mounted dragoons comes by and inspires tmpleasant recollections of Adelphi melodramas , which are by no means so cheerful on a barren and desolate moor as in
the shrine sacred to-Wright and Bedford- We know not , however , whether the towns themselves are not more depressing than the open country . We looked in vain along the whole route for any trace of a house having been built , or even repaired , since the last . time—more than ten years before : —that wo had travelled over the same road . The streets seemed , if possible , dirtier , the houses more dilapidated , and the inhabitants more
squalid tlfan of old . Indeed , throughout the whole Roman States , we should think the race ^ of masons and carpenters must be extinct . The only trade that flourishes , or rather keeps in existence , is the priesthood . Every wan in oigjbfc , so statistical authorities inform us , is ^ ft priest . For our own part , we should bo qjuito ready to believe that there wore more priests than laymen .
It was at Home especially that this mystery of the priesthood pressed most heavily on our enquiring minds . How can so many priests find means of livelihood P and how can they find any conceivable occupation ? wore questions to whioh wo could never obtain a satisfactory reply . To our latter query , the only approximate solution wo could obtain from one well informed on these matters , was that inthe small convents and ohurohes surrounding tho Eternal City each day was certain — ^^ ^ f ^ "" ^ T ^ Hf H ** fc ^* ¦ ¦ ¦ ^ rf * ¦ V ^ W ^* ¦ V" ^^ ~ M ^^ ^^ ^^ www m m > * ^ -wt-w— - ¦ ~ r — -. -- .
to bo tho " Fosta " of some saint or martyr , or other * and that tho priests walk out in troops to * i s . particular shrine , whichever it may bo , and having said a few prayers , return homo again , managing in this way to kill a little time , to gain a small amount of appetite , and to contribute somewhat to their future welfare , killing thus , in faot , throe birds with one stone—tyro temporal and . one spiritual . More' dull , listless , and unintollectual faces than those of nine-tenths of the Roman priesthood , it is impossible to conceive .
MILL ON POLITICAL LIBERTY . The public is much indebted to Mr . Mill for having opened a discussion on " the nature and liniits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society , " whether organised into a state or a mere aggregation " over the individual . " . His purpose is nothing less than to investigate the principles of all corporate authority , the very basis of political society . This subject , he correctly says , "is hardly ever discussed in general terms ;" but it profoundly influences the practical controversies o : f the age by its latent presence , and . is likely soon to make itself recognised as the vital
question of the future . " There is no political act in which it is not involved , " and " the new conditions " in which "it now presents itself , " especially the growing demands of the democracy , niake it peculiarly interesting to all the aristocratic and Conservative part of society . By . , and in its presumed interest , and . not by fhe democracy which , only seeks to share the political power already organised , without elaborately inquiring into its om * in , is the discussion begun . Now , b y this party it is painfully perceived that the majority can be unjustly tyrannical . Till now it was usually , though
silently , assumed that the select few , which has been called the upper ten thousand , could neither be unjust nor tyrannical , and to all its commands ,, embodied into laws , the majority was required to pay implicit obedience . Now . arms are required to defeat the claims of the multitude to political power , and they are sought in the principles on which the authority of the mass can be legitimately exercised over the individual . The change in the direction of general thought mp , kes the subject on , which Mr . ' Mill' provokes discussion , which is at all times important , embracing all our social duties' , now peculiarly interesting . ' ' ' ' ' . .
, In the present confused condition of parties and ordinary political principles , when society is actually , without leaders ,, we find another strong reason for now going back with Mr . Mill to the natural source of all political organisation—the power of society over the individual . First principles must at some time be discussed—nay , they ought at all times to be so much discussed as to be i-ecognised and followed as the only safe guides whenever a multiplicity of details , and many new old
and conflicting opinions makes an policy no longer practicable , and the new policy required is neither defined nor known . We propose , therefore , in one or two articles to advert in some detail to Mr . Mill ' s book , and the great subject he treats of , trusting that while we do our duty to the public by speaking fearlessly , and with all our knowledge , on this great and ¦ exclusively secular subject , we shall treat him with the deference due to his great works and his great reputation . his will be
Those who are familiar with writings aware that the work on Liberty only continues and completes a train of thought expressed at the close of his work on Political Economy . On this subject , therefore , lie is justly considered as an authority . He is continually referred to , and is said to have hazarded a great reputation by condescending at the same time to instruct the public in the practical question of Parliamentary Reform . For this attempt we honour him much ; for it is the duty of thoso who , like him , have acqiured influence by their writings , to help in guiding the of doubt and
is never to be seen on foot . Like the Queen of Spain , he is not supposed to possess legs . The other day , one of the youngest of the Roman cardinals had to perform early morning service at a church not a minute ' s walk from his house . The annoyance of having to ascend and descend and wait for his carriage was so great , that he at last resolved on the startling innovation of walking to the church in question . Before many days he was summonsed by the Pope himself , and of decorum
You can tell at once the young English proselytes , whom you meet now and then in the streets , by the brightness of their looks , and , let us add , the cleanness of their , hands . Any man may become a Roman Gatholic , but it takes three generations at least to acquire the proper pecuh ' ar Papal dirt which distinguishes the true believers . We were told a story , on good authority , which , whether it be true or not , illustrates that stateof bondage to ceremonial rules and clerical etiquette , which forms one of the especial banes of . priestcraft in Rome . A cardinal
rebuked for his breach . On remonstrating , he was informed by the Holy Father that there was nothing , either in this world or the next , he could not grant to his prayer , but that to allow a cardinal to walk on foot , was a power not conceded even to the successor of St . Peter . After all , perhaps the Pope was right . Who knows but the old riddle of Majesty , stripped of its externals , might : not apply to a cardinal without his purple stockings ? The most striking sight , however , in all Rome , to our eyes , was the presence of the French troops . You came on them at every turn , in knots of two or three together- ^ -seldom alone- ^ never by any chance in company with Italians . Every hour almost you heard the sharp rattatat of the French drums , and the soxind of their quick brisk march . In the Forum , by the Arch of Titus , beneath the Colosseum itself , they Were always being exercised and drilled , and as you looked at them , however unclassical your mind might be , you could hardly help recalling the old days when Rome was invaded by the barbarian
Gauls . The French army is an anomaly m that dead , silent city . They can hardly , we think , have a pleasant time of it there . The Romans , to do them justice , have manliness enough to show their dislike of the foreign occupation . The French , socially speaking , are tabooed . At the public balls * no Italian lady dances with the French officers . With the exception of the houses of a few of the Roman princes , who have married foreigners and become de-nationalised , they are
said to be admitted to no native society at all . What , however , struck us most was the extent to which this feeling was shared by the common people . During the Carnival the Corso was crowded with French soldiers . Everywhere there was the greatest good humour and merriment , but the presence of tho French was obviously ignored . Nobody insulted them—^ nobody pelted them . There were no nosegays thrown at them . They were simply passed over with a silence " more expressive than tho most vehement vituperation .
Indeed , the traces of French violence are too fresh for the Romans to forget . Tho miserable saplings which replace the fine old trees of the Villa Borghesc , tell where tho invading forces wore stationed . The nevv gateway hard by " San Pioti'O in Montorio , " reminds one of the old gate , that was battered down by the French guns , when tho breach was effected . In tho walls of the city itself you can still seo the imbedded cannon balls .
public right in a time difficulty . By Conservative writers he is quoted ( is an authority against the claim of every man to an equal share of representation , and his double influencoas an abstract thinker and a practical politician increases the necessity for subjecting his work to a rigid scrutiny . Before following him , Liberals and Conservatives should bo convinced that he is worthy to lead . We propose , in the ftrot instance , therofore , to lay before our readers one or two examples of tho eccentricity , at least , if not tho error oi hw conclusions , nnd shall aftei-wnrdn oxiunino more closely tho abstract principles fl-om winch Uic
con-Howovor , to do the French justice , the outward aspect of Rome has improved beneath their rule—the streets are brighter and cleaner , the shops more luxurious , and the roads near the town bettor kept . Not buying the footings of an Italian , it is impossible not to feel some satisfaction at tho security given -to order and tranquility by thoir presence .- It will be an evil day for tho shopkeepers and houscowners of Rome when tho Imperial legions march out of the city . Nevertheless , tho vary fuct that wo observed some hundreds of fresh troops enter tho city at tho very time ¦' when Louis Napoleon was boasting of his desire to withdraw his armies , confirmed us in tho belief , which we hold iVom other roasons , that the evaouation of Roma is likely to bo contemporaneous with the Greek Calends .
elusions are deduced . If wo wore not well inynro that tho moat profound speculative thinkers of modern tiiuoB , when they have directed thoir attention to •»<><»« # ^ th / Fronch economic to Mr . Mill , have naturoUy , a » d almost necessarily boon much interested , not to say engrossed , by some 0110 groat and important , thou gh temporary circumstance , wo should be suriSd that kiv Mill , like the gonUomon who conffrofltato at dubs and impart thoir oars and errors to olio another , should bo in the least alarmed at the growing ascendancy of society , by reason oi » t »
,^ ' W A-^,8. T85q.1 The Mabee. 435
, ^ ' W A- ^ , 8 . T 85 Q . 1 THE MABEE . 435
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 2, 1859, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02041859/page/19/
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