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v*-^eaa»*r? ¦ "• ' ' ¦ ! - --¦¦' - ¦¦ - ...
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¦ ' • ¦ ' 26th Nov. I have read, somewhe...
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G E It M ANY. Hanovkk, Nov. CJOtli, 1830...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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W Letters From Italy. Jflorence. Things ...
v * - ^ eaa . »* r ? ¦ " ' ' - -- ¦¦ ' - ¦¦ - » ' r- —« r—*— ^» — -tm i r irri'v Florentine prospect is , man is the most pleasing part of it . I like a country where the poor look prosperous and the people look happy , and such a country is Tuscany at the present time . There must be good , too , about a people who have such a native talent for cooking . I have long looked on the French cuisine as- a delusion and a snare . Italy is the only place I know where people not worth
lay immense stress on a rumour that the Prince only deferred instead of refusing his acceptance ; and explain away the interference of the French Government on every hypothesis , except on the simple and obvious one , that the Emperor Napoleon neither wishes nor intends that Italy should be free , or united , or powerful . I suppose that we shall have a series of fetes shortly , to celebrate the inauguration of the Regency . Kre you re ceive this the National Guard are to have new colours presented to them , and to . swear fealty to the constitution .
only know how to dine , but have victuals dining on . I contend that high moral qualities are required to produce a dinner which is at . once clean , wholesome , and savoury ; and I can truly say that Florentine cookery possesses these three attributes to an extent I have never seen surpassed , or even equalled . It is a cruel fate that the Tuscans should not have had a king like Beranger ' s famous " Roi d'Yvetot , " of whom the poet sings , that although
" Fort peu conuu dans l'histoire , II buvait s « c , et mangcoit gros , Et recutbien sans ffloire . " The Grand Dukes of the Lorraine dynasty must have been a very ill-conditioned and cantankerous race not to succeed in ruling , with mutual content , so amiable and orderly a population . Their universal unpopularity is enough to condemn their conduct without appeal . If I believed that Tuscany would be left alone , I should have no fear about the future of Florence .
The present Provisional Government appears to be an excellent one for all ordinary purposes , and , for all I can see and learn , might supply the place of established rulers for an indefinite period . Unfortunately , I have little hope of Tuscany being left to itselfj and I see no preparation made for the inevitable struggle . The whole theory of constitutional government is carried out here with eminent success , but somehow the stern , rough reality seems wanting . We have a Dictator who has all the virtues of Washington , except his vigour . We . have an Assembly , which copies with
wonderful accuracy the forms of Parliamentary debates , which scrutinises elections , and moves notices of adjournment with eminent success , but somehow votes everything with unanimity , and never discusses anything . We have a free press and a cheap press , which contains most excellent essays on political liberty , but takes no trouble to report news or to spread intelligence . We have patriotic theatricals , patriotic melodies , and patriotic demonstrations , but we have not armies manning , or supplies collecting , or fortifications making , to oppose by force any interference with our liberties .
It seems to me that sufficient importance has not been attached to the refusal of the proffered Regency by the " Prince de Carignan . " From different motives , both the French and the Italian journals have sought to conceal the real bearing of the event . I own that , in my opinion ^ this refusal is the death-blow to the hopes of Central Italy . It is the first solemn recognition of the fact , that the destinies of the Duchies arc to be decided at Paris , and not in Italy . The proposal to elect a Regent was in itself a confession of weakness . The fact was thereby made patent , that . the incoi'poration of the Duchies with { Sardinia , which had been solemnly enacted , could not be carried
out . The only real gain , in electing " Prince de Carignan " ltegent / consiated in the circumstance that his relationship and connexion with the King of Sardinia involved the honour of that monarch , by iinplication , ia the independence of the Duchyjs . By orders of " the French Government , Victor Emmanuel was obliged to refuse to implicate himself further , even by proxy , in the affairs of Central Ifnly . The most that oan bo said in favour of feuonconipagni ' a election as Regent is , that the cousin of " Victor Emmanuel " thought that this appointment would give satisfaction to . the Sardinian Government . Tho new Ti . ofrp . nt is . wo believe , a man of hiorh character and
ability , but neither his name , his reputation , or his position confer strength on the Italian cnnsd . If any event in the world could have aroused tho Tuscans to a sense of their position—could have shown them that they must henceforth looH to themselves alone—one would think that the involuntary ^ refusal of the proffered . Regency , on the part of the-House of Savoy , would have done so . As yet I can sue no sign or this effect having boon ?> roaucod . Tho Italian journals utterly ignore be importance of tho' ohock their cause hns received . They profess to consider Buonconipngni quite as good a choice as tho l ' rineo do Carignan ;
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¦ ! -t- ~ 17 twt iv . r 1324 THE LEADER [ No . 506 , Dec . 3 , 1859 .
¦ ' • ¦ ' 26th Nov. I Have Read, Somewhe...
¦ ' ¦ ' 26 th Nov . I have read , somewhere or other—I forget where —an old fantastic German story of some- Faust-likc sage , who sought to penetrate too closely into the secrets of the universe—to know , as Carlyle has it , " the very why of the why itself" —and who , for his sinful curiosity , was converted into the hands of a clock . Hour after hour , day after day , his punishment went on , unceasing and unchanging . Endued with the faculty of observation he was conscious that he turned , " and that by his turning he marked the passing minute ; but why he turned , what made him turn , or by what laws he turned , were all mysteries to which he had neither clue nor guest , Now it seems to me that Italy is much in the position of the chronoinetrical philosopher . The clock face is at Turin and Florence . The hands vibrate , and move , and stop , with the most alarming excentricity , but the works are at Paris , and the hands know not how or why they move . They are only conscious—painfully conscious— -of
the fact that their motion is erratic . The truth is , the public here knows nothing but the fait accompli , and I much doubt if the rulers know much more . We know that the Prince de Carignan has declined the proferred Regency , that Garibaldi has retired int 6 private life , that Buoncompagni first accepted ,-then half resigned , and finally has half accepted , the post delegated to him as our ruler by Prince de Carignan ; but what is the real reason of these vicissitudes in our fate we are left to speculate upon helplessly and hopelessly . *
Meanwhile , this much I can state from my own observation , that none of these events produced any outward manifestation of indignation or excitement . I know a man who went up in a balloon at a great cost and risk , and who , when he came down , was not able to produce any result of his expedition , except that he had observed a very peculiar chimney-pot . I am afraid that' t might almost say , that I had lived for weeks among a nation in the throes of revolution , and had never observed any sign of a j > opulur demonstration , except the other night , when I met four men singing an Italian song about " Liberta" in the streets , and they expected to be paid for it . The plain English is , that both Government and people have deliberately adopted , whether rightly
vated position . There was a considerable crowd of pedestrians , with a large proportion of women and children ; altogether , I suppose , there may have been 5 , 000 persons present in all . The crowd was quiet and good-natured—as Italian crowds generally are . About the ceremony itself there was nothing peculiarly- * impressive . The National Guard was drawn up in a hollow square iii front of the Cascine Villa Palace , where there was a high altar raised , and a number of stalls for the members of the Government and their friends . The walls were covered with flags , about which
the only fact I noticed was , that the French tricolour was , as Lord John Russell wouli say , conspicuous rather by its absence than its presence . There was a short mass , which . few could see and nobody listened to . Then there was an address to the commanding officers of the four battalions of guards by the President , Ricasoli , which wass inaudible , except to the immediate bystanders . After this address these officers brought the new colours round to their battalions , and called upon them to swear to the Constitution , on which the men lifted up their right anus and shouted " Jui'o . " There was a moderate cheer from the
crowd at this moment , who then dispersed . Baron Ricasoli now mounted his horse and riding along was saluted by very hearty vivas as he passed .. The National Guard , inarched into the meadow by the side of the Cascine and performed some military evolutions , with very indifferent success , in . tlie presence' of the Baron and his stair ' , and then everybody went home to dinner . The Huron Ricasoli is it tall , fair man * very thin , and sickly in his look , with blue spectacles , . and a good deal of fluffy straggling'hair on his face , which does not improve his personal appearance . ¦
Oil the following evening there was a great State ball tit thy grand ducal palace of the Pwggio Iinperiale , outside the walls . The ball itself was much like other balls . There was one circumstance , however , connected . with it which struck me curiously . Omnibuses were advertised to run from eight to ten to take guests ? to the palace for the nioderate sum of two pauls , or . tenpencu , there and back ; and so , sure enough , at the appointed hour , the streets of Florence were promenaded by little , dirLy , one-horse omnibuses , plying tor passengers to the bull ; and , as soon as their seats were full , they used to rattle off merrily , with their
fulldressed fares ' smoking as they went . When is the reign of good sense likely to be firmly established enough in my unlive land for royal guests to be able to drive up , without slisune , to sin evening party at Buckingham Palace in a sixpenny'bus ? This week has been a disastrous one in the newspaper world of Florence . The Seculo , unworthy of its name , has come to a premature end by absolute inanition , after about six months ' existence . The unfortunate subscribers wei " : comforted by an announcement in the Iti . su / iumcjito trade of the
that the good-will ainil stock in defunct Secolo hud been transferred to them , and that its subscribers would receive a copy of the Iliso 7 * gitriento gratis for a whole week , whicli . us the jRisorgimento was four times as large as l \ u \ Svcolo , would compensate for their pecuniary las .- > . ' ' lie next day , however , there vyAs a seecjml notice that the editor of the ffisorgimcntp , having departed on a secret and important mission , only one puge of the paper would bo published for the present ; and now the Jtisorgiviento has disappeared finally from its wonted haunts , and its place is known no more . llequiencat in pace .
or wrongly , the policy of waiting upon Providence ; and , therefore , till Providence , in the person of France , chooses to interfere , there is nothing for it but waiting . For very deconcy ' s sake , however , a revolutionary Government must do , or seem to do , something ; so every day almost we have some lengthy and unobjectionable' decree published , with the now unmeaning heading , " Rcgnando Vittorio Eminanucli . " One day we have a decree for a railroad to Grosseto , in order 1 o improve the cultivation of tho Maremmn marshes ; the next , there appears an edict instituting public classes in order to give gratuitous instruction to the poor in tho use of the decimal system , which it is proposed to introduce into Tuscany ; und so on , day after day .
On Sunday , we had a review of the National Guard , in the Cascinc gardens . There were some 1 , 500 men , fine able-bodied fellows , though not very military in appearance It was a bright day , oven for Florence , and the gay tricolour flags , which hung from every window , gave a festive air to the streets , which are wont to be soihowhnt gloomy . The whole city seemed to stream out along the Lungo l'Arno towards the gardens , whether out of curiosity or patriotism is difficult to learn . There was a Jong row of carriages , with a good sprinkling , of aristocratic onen , conspicuous amongHt whom is an eccentric American , vvho drivos a team of eight and sometimes twolvo hoi-Bos in an English mail-coach , and as may easily bo supposed , boars a striking resemblance to the lato Mr , Batty , except that ho is far from exhibiting tho same unso or composure in his elo-
G E It M Any. Hanovkk, Nov. Cjotli, 1830...
G E It M ANY . Hanovkk , Nov . CJOtli , 1830 . TnisitH is very . little to report this week that would provo in any degroo interesting to tho outer world . Tho King of Prussia , if his health eonihuuis us satisfactory ns at present , goes to tho Isle of Wight for the wjntor . Should tho King really talcu ui > his abode thero , tho Islo , which already stands in lli S ' repute here for its salubrity , will become tho habitual 8 iitumor resort of tho higher classes of Outmany . Heligoland and Nordornul , liiLlicrto the fashion , will bo loft to tho shopkeepers of lluinlnirg and Dromon . Tho Austrian as well as the I'Vuiioa-Ambassador lias protected agaluat the further representation of the fjiroo " Clisur Book , " and tlio piece lias , In eonsenuouu , boon strictly prohibited . The oMlolal report of the transactions In tl" >
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 3, 1859, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03121859/page/16/
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