On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    No. 508. m*. lft. I8S&3 THE LBADEB. • I2...

  • 

    in the flower of life and able to bear a...

  • 

    LIBERAL WRITERS OF ITALY. It may be rega...

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    No. 508. M*. Lft. I8s&3 The Lbadeb. • I2...

    No . 508 . m * . lft . I 8 S & 3 THE LBADEB . I 2 S 1

    In The Flower Of Life And Able To Bear A...

    in the flower of life and able to bear arnos ^ have quitted Venice to swell the ranks of the Sardinian and Central Italian armies , and that women and children arc ; following in almost equal proportions . A fact more significant of long repressed hatred and final intolerance of foreign rule need not be sought , and would be hard to find . The freedom now enjoyed by the neighbouring provinces of Lombardy offers a contrast to Austrian misrule , which is more thau the enslaved Venetians can bearand Napoleon TEL may yet learn that he

    of their great ally , from whom , as they wilbngly allow , they certainly received no slight favour and assistance during the past summer . | That the approaching Congress may free the whole of Italy from Austrian tyranny , with the exception of " Venetia , which seems doomed to bear it yet awhile , and ratify the wishes of Central Italy , to be united with Piedmont must be the desire of all the friends of freedom and progress . Though the time may yet be distant , we do not despairof seeing the Peninsula eventually liberated alike from the foreigner ' s yoke and the degrading subjection of the Papacy .

    , would have done better not to draw his sword at all rather than replace it in its scabbard before he had carried out his own spontaneous boast that he would leave Italy free from the Alps to the Adriatic . It is not hard to conceive , however , that though , for the sake of appearance and the maintenance of his sovereign dignity , he has thought it right to crush , as far as possible , all manifestations of popular will at variance with the programme traced by him at Villafranca , yet the hero of the 2 nd of December would not really blame

    the Italians if they took their affairs into their own hands and helped themselves by a vigorous coup de main , after his own fashion . Indeed it may well be believed that he would feel under deep obligationsi to them if they had the kindness thus to help him out of the difficulties and perplexities with which he is surrounded , and would , spare him the trouble of furnishing a solution to the knotty : questions involved in the return of the Dukes , the restoration of the Legations to the Pope ' s temporal jurisdiction , and the adjustment of Sardinian and Austrian claims . To all but the wilfully blind and those who have interested motives in seeking to prevent Italian unity , the idea of the Austrian element in combination with the Italian fusion is altogether

    inconsistent and anomalous . The conduct of Austria towards Piedmont lias ever been most harsh and unconciliating . In peace she has unceasingly sought to shackle her neighbour ' s movements and quench her every ; aspiration and tendency to progress and freedom . In war she has shown herself truly barbarian , and in the conclusion of hostilities covetous and pcrasping in the extreme . The hard bargain she attempted to drive on the settlement of affairs between the two countries in 1848 has been forcibly brought to mind during the present conferences at Zurich by her exorbitant demands of compensation for Lombardy . Eleven years and

    ago it required the utmost caution judgment on the part of Victor Emmanuel , in dealing with Francis Joseph , to save the honour of his kingdom , maintain the independence of the State and the integrity of its territorial extent . Then as now Austria made pecuniary claims upon him which were outrageously extravagant , and would have absorbed the revenues of his State for three years in advance . Just in proportion as it is against the interests of Austria that the Duchies of Central Italy should be annexed , to Piedmont so is it favorable to that portion and the rest of the Peninsula that the plan should be accomplished . The late sovereigns the

    of the Duchies represent branches of same House of llapsburg to which Francis Joseph belongs : by family ties and by secret treaties , they over were ana would again be associated for the misfortune of their respective subjects . Consequently it requires nothing more than the simplest reflection to be convinced , that were tliese princes to bo reseated on their thrones the power of Austria would again dbmininate in Italy exactly as heretofore . Common sense would suggest that the manifest interest of the French' Emperor should urgo him to second the wishes of the people of Italy for annexation with Piedmont ; that the slight increase of power and influenoo gained by uve Peninsula would bo insufficont to the

    cause any uneasiness to France , while . cessation of the undue weight given to Austria by Uor relations , with the Dukes of Italy would conduce to the maintenance of that balance of power which it is the Interest of France , in combination with the other . European powers , to seek to xnuintain . But notwithstanding the many proof !* of farsightedness and wise policy which might bo pointed to on the part or tho undeniably great sovereign now at the head of tho French empire , matter of fact and practical judgment have not invariably marked tho conduct of tho conspirator of Strasbourg , and the prisoner of Ham . It is , therefore , well that the Italians should have talcen the determination to deliberate upon , and manage their own aflUira , independently and ovew in ajpito

    Liberal Writers Of Italy. It May Be Rega...

    LIBERAL WRITERS OF ITALY . It may be regarded as characteristic of Italian tastes and tendencies that the Provisional Government of Tuscany finds leisure and inclination to patronize the arts and give orders for the execution of pictures and statues . We think it doubtful if in any other country under the sun an avowedly exceptional and temporary executive body would , in these matter-of-fact days , devote a portion of its limited time and restricted prerogatives to the sentimental recognition of the claims of defunct individuals upon their country ' s gratitude , however high their patriotism might have ranked . Far be it from us , however , to echo the reproaches of political , apathy and indifference made against the Tuscans and their rulers

    on this ground . We rather look upon such demonstrations with curiosity and wondering admiration , as forming so complete a contrast with the pounds- $ hillings-and-pence-soldier-and-sailor calculations which would in all probability engross the attention of a British Legislature under the same circumstances . Each nation has its specialty , and to Italy has been conceded , by universal consent , the character of nurse and guardian of the fine arts . She therefore only acts up to her responsibilities in decreeing and .-carry ing out the artistic measures in . question . Nor should it be considered extraordinary that Tuscany avails herself of her momentary freedom to indulge her special and favourite tastes . Like a school-boy let loose for a single day , she determines to make the most of her holidav and enjoy it to the top of

    her bent . It must ever redound to her credit that her rulers are enabled , thanks to the moderation and self-government of the people , to give their attention to the elegant and patriotic embellishment of the country at a period of intense political anxiety and painful incertitude . In addition to bronze and marble statues of sovereigns and other celebrated men , and historical paintings connected with the wars of' 48 and ' 59 , six portraits are to be executed of the political writers , Vincenzo Gioberti , Cesare Balbo , Silvio Pellico , Giovanni Berchet , Carlo Troya , and Giuseppe Griusti .

    The Abbe Vincenzo Gioberti first became celebrated as a writer by means of his " Primato Morale c Civile degli Italiani , " published in 1843 . He had formerly been one of the royal chaplains at Turin , but having been exiled ten years previously for siipp . osed complicity \ v , ith the Mazzinists , he had lived in honourable poverty and seclusion at Paris . This book was published at Brussels , but was introduced and circulated throughout Italy , in defiance of the efforts of the police to intercept it . Though opposed to the popular current of the day , tho ** Primacy bore a title flattei'ing to Italian feelings . At a time when the principal efforts of the revolutionary party were directed asminst tho Papacy , and when the Papal

    Goverment was carrying out the sternest measures of repression , Gioberti sustained the theory that nothing should bo done against the Pope or independently of him , for that no real good o < buld be brought ivbout save by and through the Papacy . The " Primato" unites force of reasoning with tho charm , of eloquence , in urging a reconcilement of princes and people , und in advocating a confederacy of which the Pope nas to be the Lead . Though Gioberti led the wny in a previously untrodden path , and his writings produced a serviceable and lasting impression , yet his vieus m

    party throughout tie Peninsula , and to effect a rally in favour of constitutional monarchy . But his zealous efforts met with no adequate response , and he was obliged to resign office . In his last work , the " Rinhovaniento Civile , " published at Paris in 1850 , he treats of the temporal power of the Papacy as a thing that has been tried in the balance and found wanting . Thus did he and . his party renounce the hopes which they had once entertained , that the temporal government of Rome might be rendered compatible with the freedom and prosperity of Italy . Gioberti ' s latter days were spent at Paris , where he died , October , 1852 , in the forty-fifth year of his age .

    Cesare Balbo , cousin of the Marquis d'Azeglio , was born at Turin in 1789 . At the age of seven he was taken to Paris by his father , Count Prospero Balbo , who filled the office of Ambassador of the King of Sardinia . In 1807 , when only in his eighteenth year , he was nominated , by Napoleon Bonaparte , Auditor to the Council of State , and from that time was connected with the administration during nearly the whole of Napoleon ' s career . Upon the downfal of the empire he entered the military ranks . Passing through the various grades until he became mnjor , he was to

    then attached Jls one of the embassy the Sardinian legation , at Madrid , at the head of which his father stood . Af ter holding this office two years he returned to his country ; but again left it as an exile three days before the battle of Novara , in 1820 , and lived in England and France Until 1824 . It was on his return to Piedmont in this year that he entered upon the career of letters . A series of works—historical , political and critical—which issued from his pen ,. , made his name famous throughout Italy from 1824 to 1839 : but the appearance of his " Specanze

    d'ltalia" in 1844 , a few months af ter the publication of Gioberti ' s "Primato , " was quite a national event . It was the first time that an Italian , residing in an Italian city , had ventured to write openly upon political affairs , and frankly state his opinions , and his countrymen felt proportionately grateful to him . This book—like that of Gioberti—advocates the idea of an Italian Confederation ; but Balbo demonstrates , by means of historical and political examples , that this is impossible , while any portion of Italy is in the occupation of foreigners . If the work did not increase the hopes of Italy , it , at least , tauffht Italians to fix them upon a desirable ,

    though distant object , and minutely described the means by which they might be realised . The publication of this book presented so many difficulties , and was so fraught with peril to the writer , that , before venturing to bring it out , Balbo called his sons together , explained the risks , and asked if they were disposed to accept the consequences . With true filial respect they answered in the affirmative , and it made its appearance accordingly . In 1848 Balbo was made chief Cabinet Minister by King Charles Albert , and , on the outbreak of the war very shortly afterwards , he temporarily filled the post of Minister of War . Men of all opinions and parties " agreed in expressing esteem worcii

    and admiration for his moral and intellectual . A Conservative by inclination and conviction , it was always his aim to strengthen the government and establish the principle of authority , without which , he justly held that liberty was a chimera . He was dispatched ns Envoy Extraordinary to Gaeta and Naples in Kay , 1849 . So sincere and ardent a patriot was he that he Suffered from every national misfortune as from domestic f action . His ' health , naturally feeble , declined greatly in consequence of thejoHtieal events con ^ porarv —» -

    with ana subsequent , w n *« ** wvy . •* « .,. ~» - » on the 3 rd of Juno , 1853 , after a few days of e " vere illness , Count Cesare Balbo breathed his last It is not alone as a writer that Balbo deserves tho praise of posterity , but as a virtuous , honest , ami aSfied citSzenf desirous of advancing the interests of his country by every menns in his power , and Ins death was foK and lamented as a Sublic calamity . Ho was associated w . th various ournals and periodicals , and assisted in establishing the " RworgimenW the political organ . o ( Count Cuvour and his party , Silvio Pellieo , the well-known author of the Prisons , " was born at Saluazo I" Pwdiaont , m 1789 I" conjunction with Borchot , Manzom , and others , ho oatablished the literary periodical called the " Conoiliatore . " It was intended professedly to regenerate Italian literature , and its declared object was to conduct to truth by moans of the

    this book must beheld as over speculative nn < l incompatible with practical and actual events , After tho first successes of Charles Albert , in 1848 , Qioborti returned to his own country . A short time before the renewal of the struggle against Austria , in 1849 , ho became prime minuter , and used every exertion to support the moderate

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 12, 1859, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12111859/page/15/