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April.14, I860.] The Leader and Satterda...
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Tuiun, April 7, 1.800..'run oiiiMtaii an...
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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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Foreign Cobrespokdence. Rome, 6tli April...
o-raph , we have spoken of the " woi'kman at Rome , " not of the " Romanworkman . " The difference , though slight , is an all -important one . The workmen sit Rome are not Romans , for the ' Romans proper never work . The Cnmpngna is tilled in winter by o-roups of peasants , who come from the Marches in long stragglingfiles , headed by the "PifFerari" —pipers . Iii summer time the harvest is reaped and the . vintage gathered in by labourers whose homes are in the Abruzzi mountains . In many ways these mountaineers bear a strong' resemblance to the swarms of'Irish : labourers who come over to England for the harvest . They are frugal , goodhumoured , and , for Italians , hard-working and industrious . A very small proportion , too , of the working- men in Rome itself are Romans . Certain trades , as that of the " cooks , for instance , are eonfined to the inhabitants . of particular districts . The masons , carpe nters , carvers * , and other mechanical trades are filled by men who do not belong-to the city , and are culled and considered foreigners . Of coarse , tlie rule is not without exceptions , and you will find sometimes genuine Romans amongst the common workmen , but amongst the skilled workmen never . There is a very large poor population in Rome , and ; in some form or other , these poor must work for their living ; but their rule is to do as little work as possible . There still exists amongst the Romans a sort of debased Imperial pride ; a belief that a Roman is . per se , superior to all other Italians . For manual laboiir , or labour- under others ,, he has a contempt and dislike . All the semi-independent trades , like those of cab-drivers , street pedlars , petty shopkeepers , & c , are eagerly sought after and monopolised by Romans , Indeed , the extent to which small trades are carried on by persons without capital and miserably in debt , is , we understand , one of the greatest evils in the social system which _ prevails here . If the Romans also , like the unjust steward , are too proud to dig , unlike that worthy , to beg they are " not" ashamed . Begging is a recognised and a respected profession ; and if other trades fail , there is always this left . ¦¦ Besides . , the poor at Rome are . not afraid of actual starvation . Any man who goes to confession , is not a " scontento " and can g * et a good word from his priest , is sure of food at tlie convent doors for himself and his family . We . are not saying there is no good in this custom ; in fact , it is the one good thing we have come across-. ' in connection \ vitli the priestly system of gbvemment ; but stilll on an indolent and demoralised popu- i Jation like that of Rome , the benefit of this sort of charity , which destroys the . hist and strongest motive for exertion , is by no means unmixed . The . cardinal principle , indeed , of Papal rule is to teach its subjects to rely on charity in place of industry . In order to relieve , in some measure , the fearful distress that exists among j the poor of Rome , the Government has taken some hundreds ( nearly a thousand we should guess ) of persons into their employ- j merit , and set them to work cm excavating the Forum . The sight i of these men working , or rather pretending to work , is reckoned | one of the stock jokes of the season . Six men are regularly ! employed in conveying a wheelbarrow filled with two spadefuls of soil . There is one man to each handle , two in front to pull . when the road rises , and one on each side to keep the barrow steady . You will see any day long files of . such barrows so escorted , creeping at a snail ' s pace , to and from the Forum . It is hardly necessary to say that no progress whatever has been made in the excavations , or , in truth , is likely to be made . Yet nil . these workmen are ablebodied fellows , who receive two pauls a-day for doing nothing . Much less injury would be inHicted on their self-respect by giving them the money outright-than in return for this mockery of labour . Tlie amusements of tlie people are much whatmight be expected from their . occupations .. To do them justice , they drink but little , and even at the road-side " CMerias" on a Sunday you rarely see a Roman drunk . On the other hand ,- they are a nation of gamblers . Their chief amusement , not to say their chief occupation , is gambling , Xn the middle of the day , at street corners and in sunny spots , you see groups of working-men playing at pitch halfpenny , or gesticulating wiklly over the mysterious game of " inoro . " -Skittles and stone-throwing are the only popular amusements which require bodily exertion ; and both of these , as' played hero , are as much i chance as skill . Tlie lottery , too , of which wo have spoken before , , is the delight of every true Roman . . | Th ' s pictnro of the Roman people may not seem a very favourable or a vory promising one . We ' quite admit that ninny persons who have come , much into contact with them speak highly of their general good humour , their siHbfitionnto feelings , and their sharpness of intellect . At tho name time we have observed that those eulogists of the Roman population are either Papal partisans , who , believing that " this is thu bust of all possible worlds , " wish to prove that " everything bore is for the host ; " or else they arc vehement Itnly-olutors , who are afraid of damaging their beloved cause by admission of tho plain truth , tliiib the Romans are not , a » a people , oithor honest , truthful , or industrious . For our own part , our faith is cliHeront . A bad govornmenb produces bad subjects , and we are not surprised to liud iu the debasement and degradation of a priest-ruled people tho strongest condemnation of tho \ r , \ p \ d system .
April.14, I860.] The Leader And Satterda...
April . 14 , I 860 . ] The Leader and Satterday Analyst . 359
Tuiun, April 7, 1.800..'Run Oiiimtaii An...
Tuiun , April 7 , 1 . 800 . . 'run oiiiMtaii and imkumont . BY billrt posted upon tho . walls of tho Eternal City the world jotiniH that the long-oxpectod pupal performance Iiiih taken pliu » o . The pontifical tragedy luw been pr . unentud , but in thauiiprvtentiouH , liumblo fiwhion lio ' llbting the prebont restricted rosomujcs of the mistress of the Seven HilK Afraid to utter her loudont thunUgr , lost its rovorboriitionn should shako lior tottering seat and upheavo | her decaying foundations , she hue ventured upon little moro than ft ,
hoarse whisper of indignation and reproach . Even this embraces so many persons , in general , that ib affects no one in particular . The curse has- 'been-adapted ' , to so many thousands of individuals , that a mere homoeopathic -dose , which can be swallowed with perfect ; ease and facility , fulls to the sl : are of each . Iii vain dees poor Rome try to get up si little excitement , to disturb the unscrupulous con- . sciences of tlie 'nineteenth century . Her performance . has taken place at least six hundred years too late , to do more than cause a passing smile Of pity . Past ages , and Italy no less than foreign lands , afford abundant examples of the . same indifference to Papal anathema which Piedmont shows in the present emergency , England was always independent of bulls and excommunications , even when she called herself Roman Catholic . William the Conqueror would not suffer his bishops to issue any edicts contrary to his views . Henet II . prescribed the way in which excommunication might be pronounced against private individuals , and also , the manner in . which his subjects might appeal from the unjust excommunications of the archbishop to the royal tribunal . The offences for which alone it might be pronounced were limited , and distinctly named . Henbt III . ordered the restitution of their goods and privileges to some of his subjects who were excommunicated by clerical , authority . Tlie same king obliged the Bishops of Coventry , Iiichfield , and Lincoln to retract anathemas which they had pronounced in perfect accordance with the canon law , but which they had fulminated without consulting the royal pleasure . Edwakd I . went so far as to banish certain prelates for daring to issue censures without his leave . In the case of the Archbishop of Canterbury , he not only sent him into exile , but compelled the Dean and Chapter to revoke the anathema which the . Archbishop had pronounced against the prior and canons of the Chapel Royal . The reigns of Edward II . and Edwabd III . offer examples of the same kind , while that of Henry VIII . so far outvies the rest that our memory and admiration are reserved for it almost exclusively . When the formidable pontifical bull came forth which disr charged Henry ' s subjects from their allegiance , pronounced his throne forfeited , and conferred his dominions on the King of Scotland , no one ventured to put the strength of English loyalty to the test . To the thunder of the Vatican the king opposed tlij artillery of a new translation of the Scriptures , A . copy was provided for every parish church , at the joint expense of the incumbent and parishioners . The cleVgy were commanded to teach the creed , dominical oration , and Ten Commandments in ¦ . English , to call off men's attention from pilgrimages and relics , and to discourage saintly intercession . Henry , moreover , declared that his own will should decide upon all questions of doctrine and ritual , and that no English delegates should appear at any pretended general council which might be summoned under Italian influence . The well-known bull of Pius V ., which declared Queen Elizabeth a heretic and favourer of heretics , and her adherents to have incurred the sentence of anathema , was followed by ministerial and parliamentary decrees . ' -making it treasonable to acknowledge the authority of the Pope , or to introduce a papal missive into the kingdom . In continental countries the plan adopted has been somewhat different . Kings have , in general , resisted papal violence , not by prohibiting excommunication , or ordering that it should be revoked , but by preventing its publication or execution , and taking measures to render it void and utterly without effect . ' Venice more than once displayed great firmness and courage in tacitly opposing the papal interdict ; but the most marked occasion was at the beginning ot the sixteenth century , when Paul V . sought to humble her beneath his spiritual anathemas . Immediately upon his elevation to the pontificate he announced , his intention of exalting the power or the Church at the expense of that of the secular princes of Italy * whose presumption he declared required to bo mortified . While still cardinal , in < lqed , he had expressed himself to this effect to Leonardo Donato , declaring that if he were Pope and the republic of Venice owe him the lonst ground of complaint , he would lose no time m warnings and negotiations , but would sit once launch an interdict . " And lT I were Doge , " answered the ambassador , " I would despise your anathemas . " Both soon kept their word . The republic was plnccd under interdict by the Pope for having most righteously imprisoned and refused to give up to the chums of Romo an ecclesiastic who bad been guilty of scandalous crimes of a secular nature At this period I ho Doge died , and Paul ordered his mmcio to oppose tho election of another Doge , on tlie ground that a »> v act norlonnoU by those who were excommunicated was null and void . J ho nuncio \ yiw refused an audience by tho Seignoury , who deolnrod tluit _ it could not bu accorded while tho ducal throne was vacant ; and , in spite of him and his instructions , the election of Donato as Doge took place . The Papal denunciations , wore mut by the Venetians with offers of men and money , and declarations of adherence to tue Government ; and the Pope found that , all hi * * p iritunl fuln . inntions ended in smoke . In MH 8 , Innooknt VIII . having hud Client and Bruges under an intordiet , the . pnrliumout commanded the contninnnoe of divine service iih usual . Piiimi'VK i . v lini . nnd Lows VX 1 . of Franco aictod in the same manner when Bonifacio Vlll . ana Jumi ; h II . pronouncod oxcommuuication iiguinst thorn . t The history of NaploH ^ 'voh rt . 'p <*» tod inHtanci .-s of tliq same mUitforonoo to Papal niintlioiiui . Mankvhd ho fur duHpinod tho i-xcoinmunieations of Popo Ai . kxa . nhkk ami l » i » siiecewMir , Ukiiaij iV ., «» to attend Divine Horvioo in inturdicted phioun . Phtkk of Ariiffim did tho Kiimoin Sicily , when Makti . v IV , excommunicated him nnd laid liia kingdom "" dor an interdict . Quei-n Jajjh I . utterly ww tvmnod the wr , ith of Ujmian VI . j and Chabmw III . oiii | . ) li > y « a resolution and force iu preventing the luwlhuiniiH or Ar . MXANWKU v . iVoni being- exoouted in hia king-dom . L . u > ibi , ai ' S towlc no notice
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14041860/page/19/
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